Since the beginning of the off-season, Steve Cohen has never been shy about giving a lot of money. It started with Edwin Diaz as a curtain raiser and it continued for about ten days, after the departure of Jacob deGrom.
Then, Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana, David Robertson, Brandon Nimmo and Kodai Senga all signed a contract recently. So that’s six free agents who have chosen the Mets.
In all, the guys signed for $461 million. Add to that the fact that Carlos Carrasco’s contract option ($14 million) has been accepted and we have a club that has spent $475 million this winter. You read correctly.
I don’t know if Steve Cohen has finished shopping, but one thing is certain: the club is not afraid to spend. The Mets spent the most last year ($294 million), but this year it will be even more obvious.
In fact, the payroll Mets in 2023 is expected to be around $350 million. Steve Cohen will therefore pay a huge luxury tax because those who spend more than $290 million have to pay what is called “the Steve Cohen tax”, which was added last year.
So, in effect, the value of Cohen’s luxury tax should be around $80 million.
On the one hand, we can be happy not to see an owner sit down on his millions of dollars and invest them in his team. This is what is reproached to many owners.
But on the other, the gap is incredible. Several teams do not even have a projected payroll of $80 million in 2023…
Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer together make more money than several full teams. This is a gap that is made possible because of the absence of a salary cap.
And clearly, we see that the current freelance market was put in place by clubs like the Mets and the Padres, which were in all races last week.
Let’s say some people were surprised to see that the amounts went up so much and it’s because of people like Steve Cohen, who don’t watch the expense. Verlander, Diaz and Nimmo are good examples.
Note also that the last threshold of the luxury tax means that the Mets will soon decline in the draft. Yes, the Mets want to win.
