Steve Cohen discusses Mets’ pursuit of Carlos Correa: 'We got there late'

Just before Carlos Correa signed his 13-year, $350MM deal with the Giants, the Mets made an attempt to try to land the star shortstop. Mets owner Steve Cohen shed more light on that pursuit in an interview with Jon Heyman of the New York Post, as Cohen said that he contacted Correa’s agent Scott Boras an offer of roughly $300MM.  By that point, however, the Giants and Correa’s camp were already deep enough into negotiations that Boras and company didn’t want to turn back.

As Cohen simply put it, “we got there late” on Correa’s market.  “We thought maybe he might fall to us….He’s a great leader and a good guy. He could play third base.  And he’s a great defender.”

Position changes have been floated for all of Correa, Xander Bogaerts, Trea Turner, and Dansby Swanson in various permutations by several teams this winter, as even at the very top of the shortstop market, clubs creatively explored ways to fit these players into a lineup even if another good shortstop was already on the roster.  In New York, of course, Francisco Lindor is already locked into the shortstop role through the 2031 season, and thus Correa would’ve had to move to the hot corner.

Lindor’s presence made the Mets something of a bystander on the shortstop market, but when Correa lingered on the market, Cohen checked in with Boras to see if something could be done.  Eduardo Escobar (signed to a two-year, $20MM deal just last offseason) is the Mets’ current third baseman, but if Correa had been signed, Escobar would’ve presumably become an overqualified utility infielder, or perhaps a trade chip.

It’s also fair to say that Cohen’s attention might’ve been busy elsewhere, preventing him from making an earlier bid on Correa.  New York has already re-signed Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo and brought Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, David Robertson, and Omar Narvaez into the fold during an extraordinary free-agent splurge.  The result is a payroll that sits at roughly $343.56MM, and a luxury tax number of $356.3MM — both records in MLB history.

“No one likes to spend money.  But this is the price” of doing business, Cohen said, as the Mets want to win but aren’t interested in trading from their farm system.  If this means operating at a loss in order to chase a World Series, that is fine in Cohen’s view.  Also, the owner noted that the club also had a lot of holes to fill (mostly on the pitching staff) given its own extensive free agent class.  While Nimmo and Diaz were retained, Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker, Chris Bassitt, Trevor May, Trevor Williams, Joely Rodriguez, and Tommy Hunter have all signed elsewhere.

“My team is good.  But it isn’t that much better than last year.  If you want a team that’s good, this is what it costs.  What are you going to do?” Cohen asked rhetorically.

As much as there doesn’t appear to be a limit on New York’s spending, Cohen did say that Correa’s market conditions played a role in the Mets’ interest, as he was going to pursue a signing “that made sense…and not get crazy.”  The fact that a $300MM offer on top of the Mets’ other spending doesn’t qualify as “crazy” is yet another eye-popping example of how Cohen is redefining baseball’s payroll limits, and yet “I’ve been dealing with big numbers for so long these numbers don’t scare me at all.  It’s not like I’m not respectful about what these other teams have to deal with.”