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Here the Mets find themselves again, at the start of a potentially transformative offseason, with a bunch of roster holes to fill and a functionally infinite amount of money they could spend. Under the stewardship of multibillionaire owner Steve Cohen, this has become their winter norm.<\/p>\n
Contributing to the unpredictability of the Mets\u2019 next several months, however, is another variable, especially relevant in the context of this particular offseason: Cohen\u2019s friendly, cozy, productive relationship with agent Scott Boras.<\/p>\n
In addition to representing this year\u2019s top free agent, outfielder Juan Soto, Boras counts among his clients first baseman Pete Alonso, the homegrown slugger and fan favorite, as well as righthander Corbin Burnes, lefthander Blake Snell and third baseman Alex Bregman, all of whom are feasible fits. If the Mets hand out one or more nine-figure contracts, Boras is likely to be involved.<\/p>\n
In the four years since Cohen purchased the team,\u00a0Boras has demonstrated that his long-standing, career-making ability to convince owners to spend big \u2014 spend massive \u2014 on players very much extends to the Wall Street giant-turned-Mets boss. And Cohen is very much a willing participant.<\/p>\n
How would Boras describe his connection with Cohen? He paused to think for a moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is an owner that does what my clients want owners to do,\u201d Boras said at the general managers\u2019 meetings at a San Antonio resort on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Translation: Cohen spends a ton of money on the on-field product.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my clients are the kind of players [with which]\u00a0an owner would want to do what [Cohen]\u00a0wants to do,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Translation: Boras represents (many of) the best of the best, players who can help their team win.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there\u2019s certainly a common thread that exists between my clients and what Steve\u2019s intentions are,\u201d Boras finished.<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t really answer the question, though, of the Cohen\/Boras relationship. So let\u2019s answer for him: They\u2019re quite tight. Cohen, baseball\u2019s wealthiest individual owner with a net worth of $21 billion, as estimated by Forbes, at this point may well be closer to Boras than any of his counterparts.<\/p>\n
Boras has cultivated Cohen as a good bud. They routinely spend time together at and away from the ballpark when Cohen visits Los Angeles, where he has a home (in Beverly Hills) and where some of his children live. And each of their Mets deals came together quickly once Cohen got involved.<\/p>\n
Whereas some owners are wary of Boras and try to avoid talking to him \u2014 leaving that to their general managers, who have been\u00a0hired to handle such matters \u2014 Cohen is more than happy to engage.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s missing the fun!\u201d Cohen exclaimed during spring training of a fellow owner who doesn\u2019t deal with Boras. \u201cI have a good relationship with Scott, and I think I add value to that relationship with David [Stearns]. I don\u2019t see that changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Consider their history. The first Cohen-Boras pact was Max Scherzer in November 2021, when the Mets were trying to start fresh after\u00a0a dismal debut season under Cohen. For three of Scherzer\u2019s post-prime years, Cohen agreed to pay $130 million \u2014 a then-record average annual salary of $43.33 million.<\/p>\n
That remains the richest contract for an external free agent in Mets history (a mark that a Soto deal would quadruple or even quintuple). It did not yield the championship they hoped for, but Scherzer helped change the culture and put the Mets on the map as a well-paying destination.<\/p>\n
About a year later, in December 2022, several teams were hot after free agent Brandon Nimmo. Then Cohen reached out to Boras.<\/p>\n
Nimmo said: \u201cI hadn\u2019t even really heard from the Mets until Steve called and Scott called me and he was like, hey, I\u2019m talking to [then-GM Billy Eppler]\u00a0and Steve right now. Four hours later, it was done.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result: an eight-year, $162 million deal. It was a bit longer and larger than anybody really expected. Once Cohen started talking numbers at those levels, blowing away what other clubs had been thinking, it was a wrap.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m done here. Let\u2019s get this over with,\u201d Nimmo recalled of the end of his time on the open market. \u201cIt was just kind of like Steve was ready to get it over with. OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Days after that, Cohen \u2014 sipping margaritas on vacation in Hawaii \u2014 and Boras agreed to a 12-year, $315 million contract for Carlos Correa. Even at the time, that seemed like a bad idea, especially after Correa\u2019s similar deal with the Giants fell apart over medical concerns. The Mets eventually bailed for the same reason, but it served as another data point: Cohen and Boras like to do business.<\/p>\n
So as the Mets engage on Soto, Alonso and others in the coming weeks and months, there are lessons worth knowing. When it comes to Cohen and Boras, Boras and Cohen, contracts can be consummated quickly \u2014 and at a level higher than anticipated. Boras extracts value. Cohen has value to extract. Shoot, when it comes to nine-figure commitments to players, Cohen has more experience than Stearns, his president of baseball operations.<\/p>\n
And don\u2019t forget what a Cohen colleague said in 2020\u00a0during the elongated process that resulted in his\u00a0buying the team: \u201cWhat Stevie wants, Stevie gets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ll do it my way,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cI have a great relationship with Scott. I enjoy the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Not only do the two enjoy doing business together, but they can be described as quite tight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n