Mets Owner Steve Cohen Hints at Free Agency Plans Following Trade Deadline Sell-Off

Cohen addressed reporters after the team traded away several key players.

In the wake of Tuesday’s trade deadline, Mets owner Steve Cohen spoke to the media on Wednesday to address the team’s decision to sell off several key players from the major league roster and retool for the future. Echoing what pitcher Max Scherzer said after he was dealt to the Rangers, Cohen told reporters that the team was unlikely to make an aggressive push this winter to contend in 2024.

“Max asked me straight up if I’d be all-in on free agents,” Cohen said, per The Athletic‘s Tim Britton. “And I couldn’t give him that promise.”

Cohen was referring to Scherzer’s recollection of a conversation the two had that resulted in the three-time Cy Young Award winner waiving his no-trade clause to give his move to Texas the green light. Scherzer told The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal that both Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler said the team’s focus would be more set on 2025 than contending in ’24.

By the time the deadline passed, the Mets had traded away Scherzer, Justin Verlander, outfielder Mark Canha, closer David Robertson, outfielder Tommy Pham and reliever Dominic Leone.

“I talked to Billy,” Scherzer said. “I was like, ‘O.K., are we reloading for 2024?’ He goes, ‘No, we’re not. Basically our vision now is for 2025-2026, ‘25 at the earliest, more like ‘26. We’re going to be making trades around that.’

“I was like, ‘So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?’ He said, ’No, we’re not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys. We’re going to be on the smaller deals within free agency.’”