The Mets reportedly signed Jose Quintana to a two-year, $26 million contract on Wednesday, adding another $13 million onto the books for New York’s 2023 payroll.
This signing comes days after the team added a second $40 million pitcher to their rotation, signing the reigning American League Cy Young winner in Justin Verlander after losing out on Jacob deGrom.
What does it all mean? Well, financially, it means that the Mets and owner Steve Cohen have surpassed the so-called “Cohen Tax,” or MLB’s highest threshold of the Competitive Balance Tax. As a result, every dollar the Mets go over that threshold of $290 million will be taxed at 90 percent, and the Mets’ top draft pick will be bumped down 10 spots.
The Mets are already right around $300 million in payroll, meaning they likely won’t dip back under that top threshold unless they shed some salary, which seems unlikely at this point.
Cohen, easily the richest owner in baseball, told Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman last season that he would like to not exceed $300 million, but now, the Mets will have to do just that if they want to further improve their roster, and surpass it significantly if they are to bring back Brandon Nimmo or sign another top outfielder, or add Kodai Senga, who reportedly has multiple interested teams.
The likelier scenario is Cohen simply discards his initial payroll ceiling, and goes even further in on adding players this winter. After all, the current estimated tax penalty for Cohen is $34 million, or less than 0.2 percent of his net worth.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
Listen live to WFAN:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker (just say ‘Play W-F-A-N’)