Mets prove they’re willing to pay to win a title, even for other teams

The New York Mets have reimagined how teams can approach the MLB trade deadline. 

The New York Mets are undergoing what GM Billy Eppler called a “repurposing” of Steve Cohen’s investment. New York isn’t exactly rebuilding in the traditional sense, but the Mets are looking toward the future and shifting the team’s competitive timeline.

While the Mets could still get more moves in under the wire, the 2023 trade deadline will forever be remembered as the year New York changed the game. Not because the Mets shipped out two superstar pitchers, but because of how the Mets shipped out those two superstar pitchers.

Steve Cohen and the front office essentially bought prospects with cold, hard cash. That’s not how the deals will look on paper, of course — the Rangers received Max Scherzer and the Astros received Justin Verlander, two game-changing pitchers joining imminently competitive teams — but for the Mets, the front office pulled off the improbable feat of transforming salary dumps into prospect purchases.

New York Mets pay for future championships (and also help Astros, Rangers win now)

The Mets will pay $54 million of the remaining $93 million on Verlander’s contract, assuming he picks up his third-year vested option. New York structured a similar deal around Scherzer. The Mets will pay $35.5 million of the remains $58 million on Scherzer’s deal, leaving the Rangers responsible for only $22.5 million over 1.5 years.

In return, the Mets will receive three stud prospects — Luisangel Acuña from the Rangers, Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford from the Astros.  New York isn’t exactly clearing the books, but Cohen will have all that money off the books within three years and three top-five prospects to show for it. That’s not a bad bit of business.

For New York, plans now shift to the future. Assuming no more blockbuster trades break the bank, the Mets will have to organize the future around Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and the slew of quality bats already in the lineup. Again, it’s not a rebuild. It’s a repurpose, a shifting of expectations with a plan to compete later.

The Mets entered this season with the most expensive payroll in the MLB. To end up in fourth place, five games below .500, at the trade deadline qualifies as abject failure. The front office is smart to recognize the futility of pushing forward with two aging pitchers when better long-term options exist. The Mets made the most of that futility with a clever bit of maneuvering. It may cost Cohen a pretty penny, but he’s willing to spend money to position his team for success — short and long-term. That’s what the best owners do. They spend money to win baseball games without crippling their front office with short deadlines.

This could end up looking very good for the Mets — even if the Astros or the Rangers go on to win the World Series.