PORT ST. LUCIE — They say that New York City loves to hate on Los Angeles, while Los Angeles doesn’t even think about New York City. The Los Angeles Dodgers are living rent free in the heads of the New York baseball teams right now for good reason.
The Dodgers knocked off the Mets and Yankees en route to a World Series championship last fall, then proceeded to sign nearly every elite player available in free agency, deferring much of the money.
In the Mets’ quest to become the East Coast Dodgers, there is still work to be done.
“It looks like the Dodgers are humming, but hard to know from the outside looking in and I’m sure all organizations have stuff they have to work on,” Cohen said Tuesday at Clover Park. “I want to be a team that can improve players, and I think we’re from a pitching perspective, we’re able to do that, but I still think we’re trying to figure it out from the hitting perspective.”
The Dodgers and Mets have the luxury of being the teams with the most resources in baseball, with the former benefitting from a $8.35 billion TV contract that runs through 2039, and the latter benefitting from the richest owner in North American sports.
Some owners choose not to spend money, but Cohen isn’t one of them.
The projected payroll for 2025 is $331 million with a roughly $325 million luxury tax bill, second behind the Dodgers’ projected total of $289 million. It was more than Cohen wanted to spend this year, but the Mets blew past the total he had in mind (Cohen declined to cite the number). The highest tax threshold is $301 million, anything over that is considered the “Cohen Tax.”
Cohen would like to get under that threshold at some point, but not now. Not when the Mets have momentum and not when they have a lineup deep enough to compete with the one out west. The Mets simply aren’t ready to compete with a lower payroll yet. They don’t have a farm system regularly churning out big-league players.
“It always seems like ballplayers are more expensive than I think,” Cohen said. “So it comes back to, I think ultimately, having a farm system that’s producing players because obviously, they’re controllable, they’re cheaper, and you need a mix.”
Of the players drafted, or signed out of college by the Mets since 2021 (excluding international signings), Cohen’s first year as the owner, only Christian Scott and Grant Hartwig have reached the Major Leagues.
Going back to 2019, seven players drafted by the Mets have reached the big leagues, but only Brett Baty and Scott are still with the club. Pete Crow-Armstrong, J.T. Ginn, Jarred Kelenic and Eric Orze have all been traded. Kumar Rocker was drafted by the Mets in 2021, but the team opted not to sign him. The right-hander re-entered the draft, was selected by Texas in 2022, and reached the big leagues last year.
Compare that to the Dodgers, who have seen 13 draftees reach the big leagues since 2019 and five since 2021. Many were used to better the big league club, with a handful included in trades for pitchers Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly and Tyler Glasnow, and outfielder Joey Gallo.
Two played in the World Series last year and a few more will help the team try to repeat this year.
Both teams suffer the draft implications of luxury tax penalties, yet one team has clearly had a much higher success rate with drafting and developing talent.
“Losing draft position and, or draft picks, yeah, it’s an expense,” Cohen said. “You don’t see it on the bottom line, but it’s an expense.”
The Dodgers are able to manage some of their expenses by deferring money, with nearly $1 billion in deferrals that will be owed in the future to seven players. Many in baseball felt that this was cheating, with some even saying that what the Dodgers are doing is ruining the sport. Cohen, who was a runner-up to the Guggenheim group when Frank McCourt sold the Dodgers, doesn’t share the outrage.
“I love deferring money. It just so happens that my players aren’t getting lucky enough,” he said. “I think that’s a little bit of a red herring because they’re also giving out big signing bonuses too. I think what’s really happening there is they’re trying to balance out the signing bonus with the deferral. If you notice, they tend to be in the same ballpark. So I think people focus on the deferral maybe not thinking about the fact that they’re advancing cash at the beginning. So I’m not sure that’s a real issue.”
Signing bonuses count against a team’s luxury tax payroll.
Cohen is continually investing money into player development, technology and facilities in an attempt to close the gap. The Dodgers also had a nine-year head start.
Teams are just as unhappy with the Mets as they are with the Dodgers, leading to the discussion of a salary cap with the next CBA. Much of the league understandably wants to eliminate any advantages, perceived or real.
If that’s the case, Cohen isn’t threatened.
“I’ll compete under any circumstances,” Cohen said. “You tell me the rules and I’ll compete against them.”