The 2023 New York Mets had been one of the crucial disappointing MLB groups in current reminiscence. Additionally they maintain the notorious distinction of being the costliest fourth-place groups cash could be.
Not solely did their $374.7 million payroll produce a dreadful 75-87 document, nevertheless it additionally resulted in them getting hit with a record luxury-tax payment of $100,781,932. That’s greater than double what the Dodgers needed to pay again in 2015 after they had been hit with a $43.6 million luxurious tax fee. That Dodgers workforce completed with a 92-70 document and reached the NLDS earlier than flopping.
The Mets did not even get to the playoffs or anyplace close to it, and so they finally value proprietor Steve Cohen greater than $474 million to complete in fourth within the NL East. That makes them the costliest and largest flop in baseball historical past.
That payroll would have been even greater had their reported take care of shortstop Carlos Correa not fallen via on the final minute.
The San Diego Padres ($39.7 million), New York Yankees ($32.4 million), Dodgers ($19.4 million), Philadelphia Phillies ($6.98 million), Toronto Blue Jays ($5.5 million), Atlanta Braves ($3.2 million) and World Sequence champion Texas Rangers ($1.8 million) had been different groups to get hit with luxury-tax funds.
It isn’t simply the worth tag that made the 2023 season such a flop. It is also the actual fact the Mets had been imagined to be a World Sequence contender after successful 101 video games in 2022. They entered the season with a few future Corridor of Famers of their beginning rotation (Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander), had a number of influence bats, together with first baseman Pete Alonso and infielder Francisco Lindor, and had been on the verge of calling up a high catching prospect in Francisco Alvarez.
Accidents fully devastated the pitching workers. Scherzer and Verlander weren’t totally wholesome, celebrity nearer Edwin Diaz missed your entire season after getting injured within the World Baseball Basic, and a number of other key bats had shockingly down seasons on the plate, together with Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte. Even Alonso noticed his OPS drop by practically 50 factors from the earlier yr.
All of that resulted within the Mets being sellers on the commerce deadline and quickly falling out of the playoff race. Even worse, the 2024 season will not be wanting any extra promising, particularly as Alonso’s future with the workforce stays unknown. Additionally they missed out on Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Mets have an absurdly deep-pocketed proprietor who’s keen to spend something he can to win. They’re merely proof that cash doesn’t all the time purchase wins in Main League Baseball.