Mets interested in Carlos Correa

Mets express interest in Carlos CorreaReporting by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Dan Hayes and Andy McCullough. It’s not clear exactly how committed they are to making a run at the top remaining free agent, but having them on the periphery of the market at least makes for a nice development.

The Mets’ headlines have dominated this offseason, as the team has signed a number of top free agents. New York made nine-figure pledges to keep Edwin Diaz ($102 million over five years) and Brandon Nemo ($162 million over eight years). Bring Mets Justin Verlander In a two-year, $86.66 million deal – tying the annual salary record they established with their last three-year off-season contract Max Scherzer. They agreed to terms with Kodai Singa in a five-year, $75 million agreement and signed her to smaller but still noteworthy deals Jose Quintana (2 years, $26 million) and David Robertson (One year, $10 million).

This spending spree added to the list of already highest-paid players in the league. Certainly, the Mets have faced a number of key departures as well. They allowed Jacob DeGrumAnd the Chris Bassett And the Taeguan Walker to sign elsewhere. However, it is already expected to exceed the level of spending this year. New York opened the 2022 campaign with a player payroll of approximately $264 million; It’s projected by Roster Resource a staggering $336 million for next season.

It’s a number unlike any in league history, and one that leaves open the question of how far owner Steve Cohen and his front office are willing to go. Cohen proved undeterred by traditional spending habits, and certainly seemed unfazed by a luxury tax allegedly in place to prevent any team from spending head and shoulders above the rest.

The listing resource displays the luxury Mets’ tax figure at around $350 million at the moment. They eliminate $117 million from the base tax threshold and will bypass all four levels of penalties. New York paid CBT this past season, so they also face escalating penalties for continuing for the second year in a row. The Mets will pay 30% tax on the first $20 million over the threshold ($6 million), 42% tax on the next $20 million in overspending ($8.4 million), and 75% tax on the next $20 million in overspending ($15 million). ) and a 90% tax on any additional dollars. New York currently has an estimated $57 million above the fourth and final tier, one known colloquially as the “Cohen tax” after it was introduced into the most recent CBA program at least in part in response to Cohen’s reputation for spending. That accounts for another $51.3 million in taxes, which would bring New York’s total projected tax bill to $80.7 million.

Of course, this is before considering the possibility of adding another huge deal. Correa is the best free agent still on the board. At the start of the season, MLBTR signed a nine-year, $288 million contract extension. The top two short stops are already off the board – Tria Turner And the Xander Bogaerts – All of our predictions are better, as Bogaerts’ $280 million contract came in well above most predictions. Given the strength of the market, pushing Korea beyond $300m seems likely now, and one could argue it’s getting closer to the $360m guarantee. Aaron Judge He acquired it from the Yankees due to Korea’s youth and greater defensive value.

Even if we conservatively say Correa’s preseason prediction of $288 million over nine years, that came out with an annual salary of $32 million. New York will be taxed 90% on top of that, effectively making it a $60.8 million commitment for the shortstop star for next season. This would be the kind of move no team has taken before for a single player, and again, this now seems a somewhat pessimistic view of Korea’s winning power. Sure, it could extend the deal more than nine years and lower the annual salary somewhat — Turner and Bogaerts both got 11 despite being older than Correa — but any contract change would require the team to invest a massive sum. Cohen has clearly established himself as an owner unconcerned with precedent, and it would be foolish to count the Mets over any free agent at this point.

The Mets don’t need a shortstop, of course, with Francisco Lindor Closed as a long term answer in this post. Third base doesn’t count for a star, with a maven Edward Escobar Coming out of an average season and higher probability Brett Patti It is still not installed at the MLB level. It would not be a disaster to rely on Escobar and Paty, but to install Correa on its side Alonso HouseAnd the Jeff McNeil And Lindor was locking players of all-star caliber everywhere on the court.

Beyond the Mets, the current Giants and Twins are reported to be prioritizing Korea at this point in the offseason. They are widely regarded as the best suitors, while teams such as the Cubs and Red Sox were more associated with him. Dansby Swansondrawing attention from many of the same clubs, remains available as the second best player on the open market.