Inside The Pinstripes

Mets Owner Revealed to Be Secret Yankees Fan

The owner of the New York Mets may have had a love of the Yankees in his formative years.
Sep 26, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen walks on the field before the game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Sep 26, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen walks on the field before the game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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Steve Cohen may have had tastes different from what many believed after he bought the New York Mets prior to the pandemic-shortened season. His blood does not bleed blue and orange after all. In fact, Cohen may have an affinity for the New York Yankees, which many locals found themselves drawn to during the 1990s.

The Athletic's Tim Britton wrote about Cohen's sports fandom during a Q&A. According to him, he was more of a Knicks and Yankees fan. That love of the Mets belonged more to his wife.

"Although Cohen has talked up his own personal Mets fandom, several people who have known him for a long time recall him more as a general sports fan or as a Yankees fan," Britton wrote in the Athletic of Cohen's roots as a New York sports fan. "Knicks games have been a more popular social occasion for Cohen than trips to the ballpark, and he even traveled to Indianapolis one year to watch the Knicks play the Pacers in a postseason series in the late 1990s. It's Cohen's wife, Alex, who registers more as the Mets diehard in the family."

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen
May 17, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen sits in the dugout after batting practice before a game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Cohen Conspiracy

It is here that one can start bridging the gap to some conspiracy theories about why Cohen is throwing money at guys like Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, Clay Holmes and current skipper Carlos Mendoza. Is there a world where Cohen sneaks the YES Network on during Mets games, hiding it from wife and family?

Imagine Cohen on his phone during games, posting from a faceless burner account, then throwing big money at guys he watched from afar? Cohen could be a user on X whose handle ends with "IsKing" and who would know? Brian Cashman has admitted that he has a burner.

It could explain the sudden influx of former Bombers' on the Mets roster. If he likes them with the Yanks, he pays them with his near-infinite wealth.

If Cohen does scour the Yankees' roster, complaining online about the spending habits of fellow owner Hal Steinbrenner, it begs the question: why didn't he make a run at Aaron Judge when he was a free agent? Is Cohen such a fan of the Yankees that he does not want to be the reason to make the team go from perennial contender to losing franchise by deleting its captain and adding him to his Mets?

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Joseph Randazzo
JOSEPH RANDAZZO

Joe Randazzo is a reference librarian who lives on Long Island. When he’s not behind a desk offering assistance to his patrons, he writes about the Yankees for Yankees On SI. Follow him as @YankeeLibrarian on X and Instagram.