A lot of the headlines on Wednesday at MLB’s Winter Meetings are being dominated by Aaron Judge and the Yankees. That’ll happen when a contract worth $360 million is agreed upon. However, it’s not like the Mets have just sat around and done nothing, ya know.
Amid the Judge hoopla, New York continued filling out its rotation by agreeing to a two-year, $26 million deal with Jose Quintana. This comes on the heels of the Amazins signing Justin Verlander to a two-year deal with just over $86 million.
The Mets’ rotation looks a lot better than it did before Billy Eppler and Co. landed in San Diego. Verlander and Quintana join Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, David Peterson, and Tylor Megill. The general consensus for the Mets, though, is they’re not close to being done.
This agreement with Quintana doesn’t take them out of the running for Kodai Senga. New York also needs to figure out how to supplement the outfield (whether it’s with Brandon Nimmo or someone else) and fill out the bullpen behind Edwin Diaz.
We’ve heard rumors of the Mets aiming for a $300 million payroll target. Even if they offload some players (like catcher James McCann) that’s just a pipedream now, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan:
Currently, the Mets' CBT payroll is ~$298 million. With the Jose Quintana signing, they are now over the Steve Cohen Tax threshold, and every dollar they spend gets taxed at 90%. If they stop spending today, their total tax bill would be ~$34 million. But they're not stopping.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 7, 2022
Depending on how things shake out the rest of this winter, the Mets’ luxury tax penalty could be north of $60 million. But you know what? Steve Cohen doesn’t care one bit. The man is focused on letting his front office build a World Series contender.
Regardless of what you think about the moves made thus far, this is music to every Mets fan’s ears. This is a fan base that’s been starving for an owner willing to do what it takes to win on the field. Cohen certainly represents that.
He joked last spring about having a luxury tax penalty named after him. Depending on how much he has to pay once the offseason is in the books, he may wear that final sum of money as a badge of pride.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
