While the New York Mets were able to get a strong return of top-level prospects in their slew of deals before the MLB trade deadline, they also incurred a massive amount of debt for players no longer on the roster.
Over the last week, the New York Mets threw up the white-for-sale flag on their 2023. Despite entering the season with the most expensive payroll in baseball history, the team has been a huge disappointment. New York owns a sad 50-56 record heading into Wednesday and is behind four other teams just for the third and final spot in the Wild Card race.
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That is why it is unsurprising that the front office decided that it was better to cut their losses and try to offload some of the massive salaries they have and bolster their farm system with a few of the valuable assets they control. Before the trade deadline, the team traded closer David Robertson, outfielders Mark Canha and Tommy Pham, as well as future Hall-of-Famers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.
New York Mets have $155 million in retained salary after trade deadline
Scherzer and Verlander’s deals were both unique since each pitcher is earning well over $40 million this season, and to get several top 100 prospects the New York Mets agreed to pay as much as $89 million of what’s left on their contracts. However, that is not the only money they are locked into for former players.
When adding up all the money they agreed to take on in their trades, as well as money owed for released, or bought-out players, the Mets shockingly owe $155 million in retained salaries after the MLB trade deadline (via Spotrac). That is over $7 million more than their expected 2024 payroll of $148 million.
While the moves have dropped them out of the top 10 for active payroll heading into next season, it is now understandable why Max Scherzer claimed on Wednesday that he was told by New York Mets general manager Billy Eppler and owner Steve Cohen that the plan is to rebuild and wait until 2025 to take on a lot more payroll.
In the trades, the Mets acquired several notable minor leaguers, including Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna’s brother Luisangel Acuna.