Is Mets' Steve Cohen backing away from World Series vow?

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is known for many things. Preaching patience probably wasn't on the list before Monday. 

"You know how hard it is to get into the World Series -- as we saw last year, right?" Cohen said while speaking with reporters at spring training on Monday, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN) and Colin Martin of SNY. "So, the only thing you can do is put yourself in position where good things can happen. Got to make the playoffs. The team's got to be healthy. It's got to be rested. It's got to be raring to go. And then you let the chips fall where they may. And if you keep putting yourself there, one day we'll get there. Obviously, I'd love it sooner than later. But, you know, I can't control that."

Cohen, a billionaire hedge fund manager, assumed ownership of the Mets in the fall of 2020 and made it known at that time he would consider it "slightly disappointing" if the club didn't win a World Series "in the next three to five years" under his watch. 

While the 2022 edition of the Mets notched 101 regular-season wins, it also blew a 10.5-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League East division standings and then lost to the San Diego Padres in a wild-card series. 

ESPN's Jeff Passan mentioned that Cohen "guaranteed nearly $500 million to free agents" this offseason to keep key players and acquire stars such as three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander and Japanese ace Kodai Senga. 

Cohen joked earlier this month that "time’s running out" for the Mets to win a World Series during his declared window, but he suggested on Monday he'd "like to get back" his statement from November 2020. 

"But it's important to set goals that are high and then try to achieve them," Cohen added during his comments. "If we get there, we get there. If not, we'll keep trying." 

Passan wrote that the Mets "will carry baseball's largest payroll ever in 2023," and that's before New York makes any additional moves ahead of Opening Day or the summer trade deadline. 

Cohen's spending indicates the Mets are currently a "World Series or bust" squad regardless of what he has to say about the matter before exhibition games begin later this week.