Among the biggest sellers of the deadline, the Mets also dealt Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander for prospects, shifting their focus toward 2025-26.
In a recent interview, owner Steve Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler talked about Mets’ future plans.
“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to bring in free agents. It may not be to the extent that we did in the past because I’m carrying a lot of dead money”, Cohen told the New York beat (relayed by Tim Britton and Will Sammon of the Athletic.
Cohen also added he wanted next year’s team to be “very competitive”, saying, however, that the 2024 club isn’t likely to carry the same expectations as this season’s group. “It won’t be as star-studded a team as it was, but stars don’t necessarily make for wins.”
New York opened the season with a player payroll pushing $331MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Next year’s club has around $204MM on the books and a $219MM competitive balance tax figure, as calculated by Roster Resource.
At this point, Carlos Carrasco is headed to the open market after a down year. Adam Ottavino and Omar Narváez have player options they seem likely to exercise, although Ottavino could plausibly test the market.
