3 ways the NY Mets will end up lowering payroll in the next two seasons

Nobody can ever say the New York Mets don’t spend money on their players. They have and yet the league continues to remind us you don’t need a $300 million roster to compete.

The Mets haven’t always been the most clever with their spending. Under David Stearns, they’ve been predictable with the way they operate. Juan Soto is the one exception. When isn’t he?

Lowering payroll has become a likely scenario for the Mets. Getting under the most extreme thresholds to avoid penalty saves Steve Cohen money, not that any fan should care. Can they accomplish this goal? It can’t happen in only one year. Giving them two years to accomplish it, there are three ways we can expect them to take down the total yearly payroll.

Three ways to lower the Mets payroll in two seasons

1) Let free agents walk and don’t re-invest the money

When a free agent leaves, fans typically like to see it re-invested. Don’t expect the Mets to dash to do so. When a player like Marcus Semien’s contract is up, they aren’t going to immediately spend it on somebody else. A large purpose behind trading for him while ridding themselves of Brandon Nimmo’s deal was financial. Nothing in the fine print says they’ll spend the money on another guy who could put them in the same financial straits.

While the Mets don’t have any official free agents this offseason, they do have several nearing the end. Semien has two more years. Sean Manaea and Jorge Polanco have one more.

By the time those three are free agents, the Mets would probably prefer to have young, controllable replacements. Take your pick for whoever eventually replaces Semien at second base from the farm system. One of the Mets starting pitching prospects can replace Manaea. Polanco’s replacement doesn’t need to be pinpointed because he has been so much of a non-factor we’ve already turned our attention toward Jared Young being the more affordable upgrade.

2) Rely on more prospects, waiver claims, and minor league free agents

It’s the next youth movement the Mets will need to count on most to keep team payroll down. In addition to that, clever waiver claims and minor league free agents need to come in abundance. New York has hit and missed in both of those areas. The important thing is they have routinely been aggressive.

Nothing makes you stop what you’re doing when it’s a small waiver transaction or minor league pact. However, this is an area where the Stearns-led Mets have been maybe most exceptional. 

Along with Young being a low-key major league signing, the club traded for Luis Torrens, signed Daniel Duarte to a minor league deal, and even found their most beloved player of the last few seasons, Jose Iglesias, on the scrap heap of free agency. It’s not always a cheap move either. Ty France signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres last offseason. He hit .295 with 21 home runs.

3) Spread salaries out over more years than fitting it into fewer

The Mets pay their players reasonable total salaries, but one could argue the deals are cut off by a year. Sean Manaea’s $25 million AAV over three seasons looks much different if he was making $18.75 million per year instead and still getting his $75 million total. The same applies to Jorge Polanco whose $20 million AAV becomes more understandable if he was getting $13.33 million per year instead of his $40 million.

Both sides have the argument. In those two cases, we’ll probably be glad they leave when their contracts expire after 2027.

Biting the bullet on even just one contract can lower the payroll for the Mets. An extra $7 million or so could keep them just under certain penalties that might have Steve Cohen thinking twice about greenlighting trades or other signings.

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