Last year, the New York Mets entered the season with World Series aspirations, feeling they had built a superteam capable of competing with the game’s best. Yet, instead of even coming close to reaching the postseason, the Mets were not only worse than the year before, but they also didn’t crack the 80-win barrier.
Needless to say, the failures of the Mets came as a massive shock, especially considering they had the highest payroll in MLB. And it wasn’t just the largest payroll in baseball in 2023 at $374.7 million. The Mets shattered the previous record set by the 2015 Los Angeles Dodgers ($291.1 million).
While MLB doesn’t have a salary cap ceiling, they have started penalizing teams for going past certain spending aprons, which the Mets blew past a season ago.
In doing so, the Mets have to pay a record-high $101 million in luxury tax penalties this season. They’re one of eight teams forced to pay penalties, a new high.
Back when the Dodgers set the payroll record, they had to pay $43.6 million in penalties, but at least that team reached the NLDS.
Yet, while the penalties the Mets are paying are stiff, they could have been much worse. By trading Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and others, the Mets saved roughly $18 million.
The next largest luxury tax penalty this season was dealt to the San Diego Padres, who are forced to pay $39.7 million. Other teams who paid luxury tax penalties are the Yankees ($32.4 million), Dodgers ($19.4M), Philadelphia ($6.9M), Toronto ($5.5M), Atlanta ($3.2M), and Texas ($1.8M). Toronto, Atlanta, and Texas are all first-time payers of the tax.
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