Mike Francesa has a message for Steve Cohen after losing out on Kyle Tucker: You’re no Bobby Axelrod.
The popular former WFAN host ripped the Mets’ deep-pocketed owner and the team’s president of baseball operations, David Stearns, after they failed to land the No. 1 free agent in Tucker, who instead chose the Dodgers’ four-year, $240 million offer.
The Mets offered Tucker four years and $220 million.
Francesa’s comments came before the Amazin’s pivoted to shortstop Bo Bichette, stealing him from the Phillies on a massive three-year, $126 million deal.
“He looks like a weak, ineffective billionaire, who doesn’t know what he’s doing and is being led astray by a guy (Stearns) who doesn’t understand what it means to have muscle and be in the biggest city in the world,” Francesa said Friday on his self-named podcast.
He added: “What (Tucker signing with the Dodgers) also does is it completely minimizes the importance and the strength and reputation of one Steve Cohen.”
While no one can question Cohens’ willingness to spend, the Dodgers — not the Mets — have been the team that seemingly signs any player they want in recent years.
In prior offseasons, the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell, among others.
This offseason, fresh off two World Series titles, the Dodgers inked Edwin Diaz from the Mets and now prevented Tucker from landing in Flushing.
Cohen had a major win last offseason when he bested the Yankees to land Juan Soto on a 15-year, $765 million deal, the largest contract in North American sports history.
However, many expected after he became owner that he would simply not be denied for players he truly wanted since he could outspend them all.
He would simply be his “Billions” character in Bobby Axelrrod.
MLB even created the so-called “Cohen Tax” to try to prevent him from just winning every bidding war.
Yet, the Mets have now lost multiple bidding wars to the Dodgers for Ohtani, Yamomoto and Tucker.
“If you’ve never watched the character (Axelrod) that this man (Cohen) is supposed to be, he is supposed to be a ruthless, ‘I win every time,’ kind of guy, and he’s getting punched this way and that way and knocked down and humiliated in baseball right now,” Francesa said.
Francesa noted that Stearns may factor into how the team has operated in free agency, saying that it’s “not working” with the former Brewers’ top executive.
The Mets went to the NLCS in 2024 in Stearns’ first season, but endured one of their most disappointing campaigns ever in 2025 by missing the playoffs with an 83-79 record.
Francesa said Stearns seemingly wants to build a small-market team in a big market for Cohen.
“He looks like an ineffective, soft, middle-of-the-road owner who talked big game and doesn’t get the job done, Francesa said, “and puts people in place to do the same thing.”
Cohen responded to losing Tucker by flexing his financial might to land Bichette, a strong hitter who will man third base for the franchise.
The Mets still could use an outfielder and a starting pitcher despite already being in the highest luxury bracket, meaning they will pay 110 percent on any contract.
“He hasn’t been what everybody thought he would be. …The guy who was supposed to be Bobby Axelrod…,” Francesa said of Cohen.
“The bottom line is he was going to be (late Yankees owner) George (Steinbrenner) on steroids. Baseball was so worried about this guy’s Wall Street reputation and his outrageous wealth that they put in a guardian with him in (former Mets president) Sandy Alderson.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
