QUEENS, N.Y. — The JD Martinez deal fell perfectly into Steve Cohen and the Mets’ laps last week.
While the veteran designated hitter and his agent, Scott Boras, looked for a multi-year deal and more annual value, a slow market allowed for the Mets to come away with his signature on a one-year, $12 million deal.
The 36-year-old was the largest signing of New York’s offseason — a far cry from the shopping spree they went on last year to create the largest payroll in Major League Baseball history worth $375 million.
“Spending $375 million as we did last year seemed a bit over the top,” Cohen admitted before Opening Day Friday afternoon.
This is how the Mets’ model will be in 2024 — the first year under president of baseball operations, David Stearns. Due to the luxury tax penalties levied on them for blowing past multiple thresholds, Cohen has to pay a 110% tax on every acquisition he makes this season. That means big signings or trades are far less likely to happen in 2024 unless things break their way as the Martinez signing did.
“We keep talking about being opportunistic and I think [the Martinez deal] was an example that came down to the price that was reasonable,” Cohen said. “Remember, I’m in the 110% price so it’s not that price, it’s times two-plus. You can’t do too many of those because it just blows the budget out and you want to leave flexibility during the year.”
Whether or not that flexibility exists to better the team if necessary this season — likely contingent on contending for a postseason spot — remains to be seen.
“We’ll make that decision when we get there,” Cohen said with a nod toward MLB’s trade deadline on Aug. 1. “We know everything is 110 cents on the dollar so that’s a decision — an expensive decision, but I am competitive. If the right thing comes along at the right moment, we’ll explore.”
The Mets still have the most expensive payroll in MLB this season (approximately $307 million), largely because they decided to take on money from Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer’s contracts when they were dealt at the trade deadline last season. Their two contracts alone account for $55 million on New York’s books in 2024.
That decision maximized the Mets’ returns from the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, which yielded two of the organization’s current top prospects in Drew Gilbert and Luisangel Acuna.
The young duo along with the burgeoning Mets farm system allows an avenue for Cohen and the organization to descend the tax thresholds, though a complete reset could only come if the payroll goes below the first threshold which, for example, will be at $241 million in 2025.
Such a concept feels far-fetched to Cohen, who is trying to balance the building of sustainability with being competitive now.
It’s pretty consistent. We knew there were some constraints given contracts we’re paying for that are run off at the end of this year or at the end of next year. There were some money constraints. Everyone has a budget, right? But generally, I’m really pleased at what we created, the depth on this team, the defense is going to be so much better. you can imagine there will be a lot of games that we’re going to be in it… To play over 162 games, you need that. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
“The only way you’re getting out of it is if you have a good farm system and you have players who are reasonably cost-controlled,” he said. “You should have a blend of that and most teams do… It seems far away, it just seems like that could be hard to do. The only way you really could do that is if the farm system really produces players in volume. It’s possible, but we don’t have to do that. I’m perfectly happy to [contribute] finances… so that isn’t a goal of mine.
“If it were to happen, that’d be fantastic, but the reality is you’d have to expect something in the middle someplace.”
