Mets' Steve Cohen tried (and failed) to hide saltiness over losing 2 players to Dodgers

The Mets rebounded from the early-offseason teardown of their roster pretty nicely by signing Bo Bichette and trading for Freddy Peralta, but not before suffering two major embarrassments at the hands of the Dodgers. Edwin Díaz and Kyle Tucker both ultimately chose LA despite the Mets being a finalist for both.

Depending on who you believe, the Mets either weren't willing to up their offer to Díaz after seeing the Dodgers' figure, or Díaz never gave them the opportunity to. Tucker's choice was more self-explanatory; the Dodgers offered him $20 million more.

Owner Steve Cohen arrived at spring training earlier this week, and he tried and failed to sound cavalier about losing two top free agents to LA. Of Díaz's decision: "I did find that one perplexing. I'm not sure exactly how Edwin arrived at that decision."

Of the Tucker saga: "I actually went to bed annoyed. 'Oh, we didn't get him.'" And then he tried to talk up Bichette instead, "I actually feel Bo might be a better fit for the team."

And then, of the Dodgers' spending: "They're formidable. They have the ability to spend. So do I, by the way."

That sounds like a guy who's been doing a lot of self-soothing, coping exercises lately.

Mets owner Steve Cohen definitely isn't over Edwin Díaz, Kyle Tucker choosing the Dodgers

But who can blame him, really? The Mets are the No. 2 spenders in baseball and have both the capacity and willingness to be No. 1s under Cohen's stewardship and multibillion dollar net worth, but they still aren't taken seriously as an organization and won't be until they can actually win a title.

Sure, Cohen can spend. We all know that. He was willing to with Tucker and he ended up doing so with Bichette. But there's a reason that players choose the Dodgers — or even any other organization (the Orioles, in Pete Alonso's case).

Rumors of discord in the Mets clubhouse don't seem unfounded. They were at one point the winningest team in baseball in 2025, and then they didn't make the playoffs after suffering one of the most mortifying slides in the game's history. Does that sound like a winning culture to anyone?

Díaz and Tucker chose LA not only because they put the most money on the table, but because the Dodgers win. And the Mets don't. It's really as simple as that; nothing to be perplexed about.