Mets owner Steve Cohen advised Justin Verlander on hedge funds

Steve Cohen gave star pitcher Justin Verlander advice on investing in hedge funds three years before the New York Mets owner acquired the Cy Young Award winner, according to a report.

Cohen, the billionaire founder and owner of Connecticut-based Point72 Asset Management, told The New York Times that a mutual friend acted as an intermediary sometime in early 2020.

At the time, Verlander was just coming off a 21-win season with the Houston Astros while Cohen was still months away from completing his $2.4 billion acquisition of the Mets.

“He was wondering about hedge fund investments,” Cohen said of Verlander. “I met him through a friend.”

When asked what Cohen told Verlander, the Mets owner said to the pitcher: “Sure, I’ll help you out. I’ll help you think about it. Why not?”

Verlander told the Times that he was touched by the “kindness of [Cohen’s] heart” in agreeing to speak with him.

The pitcher said that Cohen offered “probably pretty dumbed down” advice.

According to the Times, that conversation was the start of a relationship during which the two men kept in touch.

It paid dividends for Verlander, who this past winter signed a two-year, $86 million contract to pitch for Cohen’s Mets in Flushing.

Shortly after signing with the team, Verlander and his wife, supermodel Kate Upton, broke bread with Cohen and his spouse, Alexandra.

The friendly double date was captured in a social media post that went viral.

In an interview with the Times, Cohen hinted that other Mets have come to him for advice on how to put their vast dollars to work.

“There may have been other players that are interested,” Cohen said, adding: “A lot of these guys get paid well, right?”

“And they’re looking for advice,” the Mets owner said. “Kind of in my wheelhouse, right?”

Verlander could have done much worse in choosing whose brain to pick when it comes to hedge funds.

As of Monday, Cohen’s Point72 had around $27.2 billion worth of assets under its management.

Point72 specializes in what is known as a long-short equity strategy in which it takes a long position on underpriced stocks while selling short positions on securities that are overvalued.

Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranked Cohen, who has a net worth of $13.2 billion, as the 130th richest person in the world.

When it comes to hedge funds, Cohen is in a class nearly by himself.

Last year, Point72 raked in $1.9 billion in assets — second only to Ken Griffin’s Citadel, which earned $4.1 billion, according to Bloomberg News.

Cohen’s deep pockets allow him to spend lavishly on free agents — so lavishly that the Mets have been losing money.

Reports indicate that Cohen, by far the wealthiest team owner in professional baseball, could be as much as $200 million in the red.

The Mets have a Major League-leading $340 million payroll.