MLB creates ‘economic reform committee’ as Mets spend hundreds of millions on free rein

New York Mets Off-season spending raised eyebrows among Major League Baseball owners as the team brought in Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana, and re-signed major contracts with Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo.

The Mets also had a long-term contract with Carlos Correa, but concerns about his physical condition kept the contract on the table and the all-star shortstop returned to the Minnesota Twins. New York also re-signed Mark Kanyu and Eduardo Escobar and added David Robertson to the bullpen.

Steve Cohen, the billionaire Mets owner who bought the team from the Wilpon family for $2.4 billion, guaranteed free agents $500 million over the winter, according to ESPN. Baseball has a luxury tax threshold but no salary cap, allowing teams to spend as much as they can to upgrade their teams where needed.

The Athletic reported that Major League Baseball had set up an “economic reform committee” to deal with some of the costs. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the committee was formed out of concerns about spending during free agency and unrest at Bally Sports, which has contracts with several teams to show games to local subscribers.

“When you start thinking about the opportunity in terms of a more national (broadcast) product, it leads to a conversation about the issues of our income inequality,” Manfred said via The Athletic.

“We have businesses that are literally dissimilar in terms of the total revenue they bring in. having conversations that weren’t in baseball, and it was really owners talking to owners, which is a good thing.”

According to Manfred, the committee is made up of team owners.

The report notes that a new collective bargaining agreement, which was agreed last year as negotiations led to a lockout, provides for a “Steve Cohen tax” on those above a certain dollar figure. This year the amount was 293 million dollars.

Cohen was not the only one who was rebuked.

Owner of the Colorado Rockies Dick Monfort hit San Diego Padres also for their expenses.

“It’s putting a lot of pressure (on us),” Monfort said at a public event in the Rockies last month via The Denver Post. “But it’s not just the Padres, it’s the Mets, it’s the Phillies. It’s been an interesting year.

“What the Padres are doing, I don’t agree 100%, although I know our fans probably agree. Let’s see what happens.

“I look at the Padres and they have a really talented team, but they also have some holes. They have three, maybe four starting pitchers, and then they’re kind of like us. They have (Joe) Musgrave, (Blake) Snell and (Yu) Darvish, so I don’t know. They’ve spent a lot of money and they’re going to have to spend a lot more if they want to keep (outfielder) Juan Soto. pressure on you. Yes it is”.

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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