New York Mets: How Steve Cohen can build a dynasty

There’s a new George Steinbrenner in the big apple with Steve Cohen having purchased the New York Mets.  

October 30th, 2020. Save the date. That day is a turning point in New York Mets’ history. That’s the day a new George Steinbrenner emerged in New York. That’s the day billionaire hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen purchased the New York Mets for $2.475 billion.

Cohen isn’t just any billionaire and he’s not just any owner. Cohen is a die-hard Mets fan, born and raised in Great Neck, New York, just 18 minutes from Queens. Before he was a wall-street mammoth, Cohen was just an ordinary kid, spending stuffy August afternoons on the train from Long Island to Shea Stadium, where he’d peer down on the Mets from the upper deck.

Cohen is New York’s new George Steinbrenner. With a net worth of $14 billion, he’s equipped to spend whatever it takes to haul in baseball’s top free agent talent. That’s precisely what Steinbrenner did as Yankees owner from 1973 until his death in 2010.

Willing to win at any cost, Steinbrenner shelled out a whopping $1.8 billion on free agents – which converts to about $2.15 billion in today’s dollars. Steinbrenner’s aggressive free-agent sprees led to seven World Series titles in his time as Yankees owner, and, if Cohen makes the right moves, a Steinbrenner-esque dynasty is feasible.