New York Mets owner Steve Cohen reveals plan to cultivate pitching prospects in the team's farm system

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen expressed his desire to develop and promote pitching talent from within the setup, rather than look to the market.

Cohen bought the Mets in a deal worth $2.4 billion in 2020. Since then, his spending has become a cause of concern for owners of rival teams.

Speaking to Jeff Passan from ESPN, Cohen did not seem too concerned by these fingers being pointed at him.

"I've heard what everyone else has heard: that they're not happy with me," Cohen said. "I hear things from people who are maybe more neutral -- that they're taking a lot of heat from their fans. I kind of look at that like, you're looking at the wrong person. They're putting it on me. Maybe they need to look more at themselves."

Among other things, Cohen seemed intent on further developing their farm system. The New York Mets have some promising talents in the form of catchers Julio Alcazar and Kevin Parada, and third baseman Brett Baty. However, there is one particular area where Cohen would prefer to see elite players coming up through their ranks: Pitching.

"I'd love to develop some pitching," Cohen said. "Pitching's really expensive. And I don't know why we can't. Other people can. At some point we will. The goal is to eventually get our payroll down to something more normalized for a New York team."

While Cohen may be serious about his plans for the farm system, it will be interesting to see when those plans bear fruit.

New York Mets and breaking the fourth wall

Pete Alonso #20 of the New York Mets celebrates with teammates after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field on September 18, 2022 in New York City.

Cohen also addressed the chatter surrounding the the fourth tier of luxury tax introduced this season, with the threshold set at $293 million. It was dubbed the "Cohen Tax", and the New York Mets exceeded this amount by almost $7 million.

"I didn't think it was that big a deal," Cohen said. "I was already going to be in a big bracket anyway, no question. So it's like the government raising taxes. You're already in a high bracket. What I think about is making income. If I make income, it solves problems.

"It'd be great to get the payroll to the point where I don't have to pay tax anymore. That's the goal. If we do our job and develop a farm system and get a nice, sustainable pipeline going, we should be able to accomplish that. The [Los Angeles] Dodgers did it. The Dodgers -- what was their payroll in 2015?"

Cohen seems confident of getting the payroll under the minimum tax threshold eventually. But for the moment, an MLB World Series win would be higher up in his priority order. He won't be deterred by the luxury tax threshold from landing the two-way superstar he wants for that.