After Mets’ reported Carlos Correa signing, here’s how much owner Steve Cohen could pay in luxury tax

Wow. What an offseason for the New York Mets.

We knew owner Steve Cohen had deep pockets and wanted to spend this offseason to help a playoff team get much better.

But we didn’t know he’d spend THIS much.

Reports broke early Wednesday morning that after a physical may have held up a deal between shortstop Carlos Correa and the San Francisco Giants — a Tuesday news conference was called off — and that the Mets swooped in to spend $315 million over 12 years to grab him to play third base.

That’s on top of an offseason that’s included re-signing Brandon Nimmo, Adam Ottavino and Edwin Diaz, and adding Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, David Robertson and Omar Narvaez.

So how much will Cohen reportedly pay in luxury taxes, which are a penalty IN ADDITION to all that free agent money?

Here’s your answer:

The New York Mets current payroll is estimated to be around $384 million. The luxury-tax payments alone will exceed $111 million. Their total payroll projects to be $495 million.

The previous max payroll in baseball: less than $350 million. Mets are at almost half a billion.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 21, 2022

Since free agency began, the Mets signed:

– Carlos Correa, $315M
– Brandon Nimmo, $162M
– Edwin Díaz, $102M
– Justin Verlander, $86.6M
– Kodai Senga, $75M
– Jose Quintana, $26M
– Omar Narvaez, $15M
– Adam Ottavino, $14.5M
– David Robertson, $10M

Total outlay: $806.1 million.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 21, 2022

WOW.