If the 75 wins and 87 losses weren’t enough to capture the Mets’ disappointing 2023 season, MLB’s luxury tax calculations gave them one final number to digest.
They’ll pay a record $100,781,932 following a campaign where owner Steve Cohen finished with a $374.7 tax payroll, according to the Associated Press.
The luxury tax amount topped the Dodgers’ $43.6 million from 2015 as the new benchmark.
It would’ve been about $8.4 million higher, according to the AP, if the Mets didn’t become sellers at the trade deadline, when they shipped Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Mark Canha, Tommy Pham, David Robertson and Dominic Leone — turning what was supposed to be a season with a World Series dream into a preview for future years when they acquired prospects.
But the Mets had, and still have, Francisco Lindor’s massive contract.
They signed Brandon Nimmo to a new eight-year deal before the 2023 campaign.
They inked Edwin Diaz to a $102 million contract to have him anchor their bullpen, a plan that backfired when he suffered a season-ending injury during a World Baseball Classic celebration.
Cohen’s spending strategy led to signing after signing after signing.
As the Aug. 1 trade deadline neared, though, the deals hadn’t amounted to any success in 2023.
They shipped Verlander to the Astros.
Scherzer to the Rangers.
Canha to the Brewers.
Robertson to the Marlins.
That helped the Mets save approximately $18 million, according to the AP.
And to this point, the Mets haven’t made any substantial moves to start this offseason.
They never made a formal offer to two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, The Post’s Mike Puma reported.
They offered Yoshinobu Yamamoto a $325 million deal, but he opted to join Ohtani with the Dodgers instead.
Luis Severino’s one-year, $13 million deal marked their biggest free agency splash to this point, and Cohen, as well as president of baseball operations David Stearns, also have a Pete Alonso decision — whether to navigate contract extension negotiations with agent Scott Boras or trade the star first baseman — looming before he hits free agency after the 2024 season.
The Mets were one of eight teams who owed money through luxury tax, joining the Padres, Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies, Blue Jays, Braves and Rangers, according to the AP.
Collectively, those organizations owe $108.98 million.
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