The Mets and Yankees both threw around some serious money this winter in the free-agent market. Between each squad’s attempts to retool for another World Series run in 2023, they combined to spend north of $1 billion.
As it turns out, that’s just a small fraction of what the combined worth is for these franchises. According to Sportico, at least.
Unsurprisingly, each New York squad finds itself within the top 10 most valuable MLB franchises. The Yankees remain at the top with a comfortable lead. Meanwhile, Steve Cohen’s Mets held onto their sixth overall ranking. Guess who is hot on their tails, though. That’s right, the Atlanta Braves. The Amazins seriously can’t get any kind of separation from them.
Here’s a quick peek at the top 10 overall:
.@MLB valuations
The average MLB team value inched up 2% over the past 12 months to $2.36 billion, including equity in stadium real estate and MLB-related businesses like RSNs https://t.co/C1Mja2QbbS pic.twitter.com/HAbIVMJAU6
— Sportico (@Sportico) March 14, 2023
We’ve got a little movement at the top and bottom of the top 10. It’s quite interesting that the Los Angeles Angels were the only squad within this group to see their franchise value slightly decrease.
The Yankees have consistently been at the top of these rankings for just about as long as I can remember. This makes it even more curious as to why they can’t supply complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi to their players. But I guess that’s a conversation for another day.
As for the Mets, Cohen bought the club officially in November 2020. Purchasing a 95% stake cost him about $2.4 million, with the remaining 5% staying as part of the Wilpon family legacy (hooray).
There’s a substantial jump the Mets will need to take to get themselves into the top five. About $1 billion in value, to be exact. If anyone can make that happen, though, it’s Uncle Steve. Because as we all know, he almost always gets what he wants.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
