Mets Highlight Payroll Disparities In MLB

We heard quite a bit about league-wide competition, preventing tanking, and the threshold for the competitive balance tax (CBT) during the lockout as Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association worked toward a new collective bargaining agreement. The game is back on the field, which is great, but it does not appear that all the issues are solved.

According to author Kyle Boddy and data from Spotrac.com, the payroll disparity from top to bottom in MLB is significant.

I didn't *quite* realize the exact distribution of team payrolls throughout MLB.

Yeah. Pretty crazy. pic.twitter.com/HzZ2slGI9H

— Kyle Boddy (@drivelinebases) March 20, 2022

The Los Angeles Dodgers payroll 0f $270 million is $240 million more than the lowest payroll, owned by the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets’ payroll of roughly $250 million (all figures are pre-arbitration and not luxury tax numbers) comes in second in MLB. In 2022, the threshold for the CBT is $230 million (the first-year penalty is 20% on all overages). If these figures were to hold, the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and Phillies will be committed to paying a luxury tax (when the signing of Nick Castellanos is included).

The information above tells a couple of stories.

First, to the degree that players’ salaries correlate to being competitive (not always the case, per the Tampa Bay Rays), baseball has a significant problem with the level of competitiveness throughout the league. While a salary floor of $100 million was discussed during the CBA negotiations, it never took hold. If it had, ten teams would have been forced to increase their spending on players. As noted here, every team in MLB will receive $65 million in national television and streaming contracts in 2022, that’s before any other type of revenue (such as tickets, merchandise, concessions, etc.) is realized.

Next, regarding the Mets, the team has had a good offseason but has a few remaining needs. The Mets may need another big bat, ideally in the outfield. Michael Conforto remains available. If he were to sign for, say, $20 million (just above the qualifying offer he turned down), the Mets would see their payroll grow to $270 million. Their CBT number would be even higher. Add a left-handed relief pitcher via trade, and that brings the payroll even higher. Effectively, with the tax factored in, the Mets would shell out over $300 million in 2022.

Mets fans are confident that owner Steve Cohen is willing to spend significantly to win. The question, as what point (if any) does he draw the line? There may be a need to take on additional salary at the trade deadline. Would the luxury tax–even the fourth limit of $290 million–stop Cohen and the front office? It’s easy to say that it will not, but we have no way of knowing that until the situation arises. It’s unlikely the Mets will shed significant salary via trades, as their most tradable assets (Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis) are not among the highly-compensated players on the roster.

It’s refreshing to see the Mets near the top of MLB payrolls. It’s even better to know that the team’s owner is seemingly unfazed about exceeding the CBT threshold to bring a winner to Queens.

Do the Mets have a payroll limit? If so, what is it? We will never know. But it’s a fun ride, and let’s enjoy it.

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