NY Mets are magically dodging the one person who almost broke Steve Cohen

New York Mets Steve Cohen has no interest in getting dragged into a February stare-down with Scott Boras. Yet here we are again — except this time, it sounds like Cohen is finally doing the one thing Boras hates most: walking away from the game.

The Mets weren’t pretending talks were smooth. The vibe was closer to: we tried, we offered, and the counterpunches kept coming back in a shape we didn’t want to live with. Cohen’s frustration wasn’t about spending, it was about risk. About contract creativity that makes the team wear the downside while the player keeps the upside. That’s the Boras specialty.

Steve Cohen’s cold Boras strategy is a giant shift for the Mets

He’s built a whole brand around dragging negotiations into awkward calendar territory — even after camps open — because desperation is a better bargaining chip than logic. The longer talks drag, the more leverage shifts from spreadsheets to anxiety — because once you’re close enough to spring training and you still have a real hole on the roster, “discipline” starts turning into “just get it done.” 

But Cohen recently has clearly tried to remove the oxygen from that tactic. The Mets’ posture has been about keeping the door cracked, not letting the calendar turn into a weapon. Yes, they did come to terms with a Boras client in reliever Luke Weaver — so it’s not “Boras or bust.” But that’s kind of the point: the Mets will do business where the risk is clean and the fit is obvious, while refusing to let one headline negotiation hijack the entire offseason. 

They were already talking through what “moving forward” without Alonso could look like, including internal solutions and position-shift contingencies at first base. Then they landed on Jorge Polanco (represented by Ulises Cabrera) and Bo Bichette (represented by VaynerSports). It’s the Mets telling Boras, “We’re not showing up to your hostage exchange.”

Cohen’s disinterest in the Boras marathon isn’t a one-off emotion — it’s a strategy. The Mets can love a player, value a bat, and still decide the most important thing is refusing to get steered into a contract structure they hate just because the calendar is getting loud. He even mentioned last offseason how exhausting it can be to negotiate with Boras. 

Mets fans don’t always want to hear it, but the healthiest thing Cohen can do for the organization is treat February like a boundary, not a finish line. Because the “Boras tax” isn’t always the dollars — it’s the months of roster paralysis, the PR churn, and the way every other decision gets held hostage while one negotiation tries to become the whole offseason.

The funny part? The richest owner in baseball didn’t need to outbid anyone to win this one.

He just stopped playing Boras’ favorite game.

The Mets have traded for a few of his clients, but they seem like rentals. Luis Robert Jr. and Marcus Semien are each represented by Boras Corp, but there's no contract negotiating to be made. Robert is unlikely to become a long-term Mets player while Semien is going to play out his contract.