PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Mets owner Steve Cohen once again revealed that he’d eventually like to see his team stay below the “Cohen Tax.”

After turning the New York Mets into baseball's biggest spender, owner Steve Cohen would like to see his team build more economically through its farm system. “I’d like to get below the Cohen tax,” Cohen said Tuesday,

His biggest splash came in this past offseason, when the Mets brought in superstar Juan Soto on a staggering 15-year, $765 million contract that was more than 22 other MLB teams spent combined and made him the highest-paid player in sports.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Steve Cohen has visions of dropping below what even he wryly called on Tuesday the “Cohen Tax” threshold. I bet he believes the day is coming in the next few years when David Stearns has overseen a farm system that annually delivers difference makers and depth.

After coming within two games of the World Series and then winning the offseason by landing right fielder Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million contract, the Mets have seen a “decent, significant percentage increase” in ticket sales, according to Cohen.

"I've always wanted to be a little more measured in payroll growth, and then we get there and it's never quite there,” Cohen said Tuesday.

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s desire for a World Series title outweighs his wish to one day get beneath Major League Baseball’s “Cohen tax,” which is a 110% penalty for every dollar spent after surpassing the league’s fourth luxury tax threshold.