Steve Cohen shows zero fear of Dodgers dynasty with bold World Series prediction

If any owner of any sports team has ever deserved to take a victory lap, it was Steve Cohen on Thursday afternoon. Juan Soto's first official appearance as a member of the New York Mets was the culmination not just of years of work since Cohen bought the team back in the fall of 2020, but of an entire lifetime of fandom. Signing Soto did more than just add arguably the best pure hitter in baseball to a team that reached the NLCS last season. It shifted the landscape of the sport: Finally, it was the Mets, not the Yankees, who landed the biggest fish in the sea, proof positive that they would no longer take a back seat to anybody.

So you can forgive Cohen if he was feeling himself a little bit as he and Soto answered questions from reporters at Citi Field; you would be too if you'd just handed out $765 million. But in the course of that victory lap, Cohen let slip an answer that should catch the attention of the defending World Series champs — and could come back to haunt him if the Soto signing doesn't go as everyone expects it will.

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Steve Cohen wants '2-4' World Series titles over the next decade with Juan Soto

Among the juiciest portions of Cohen's media appearance came when he was asked to shed light on his in-person meetings with Soto — both how he sold the outfielder on coming to Queens, and what exactly Soto wanted to know about the Mets organization. We knew all along that a team's ability to field competitive rosters would be at or near the top of Soto's wish list, so it's no surprise that he wanted to know what Cohen's plan was to build on this year's success.

But Soto went even further. Apparently he at one point asked Cohen how many championships he wants to win over the next decade. Cohen's response? "2-4."

It's not quite the Heatles' "not five, not six, not seven..." routine, but it's still worthy of a raised eyebrow. Especially if you're a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers — you know, the reigning World Series champions, who have the best player on planet Earth set to return to the mound next year after winning NL MVP honors and putting baseball's first 50/50 season. L.A. has already added Blake Snell this offseason and certainly isn't done, so surely they'd have something to say about the idea that signing Soto makes the Mets the team to beat in the NL.

But, hey, you can't blame Cohen for projecting confidence. There's a reason why players seem to gravitate toward him, and why Soto felt comfortable enough with him to sign away the rest of his professional career.