Mets Reportedly Engaged in Carlos Correa Sweepstakes

The Mets currently have a payroll of around $350 million and could end up paying higher than $420 million after luxury tax penalties, but they might not be done spending. According to a report in The Athletic, Steve Cohen may be willing to give GM Billy Eppler the green light to spend whatever it takes to build a winner in Queens. Sounds familiar, but it rings a lot less hollow when actions back up the words.

In addition to meeting a demand that could run north of the $341 million for current Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, the Mets would probably have to get Correa to move to third base. While that may be inevitable at some point given the length of his deal, Scott Boras has been adamant about keeping his client at short. Again, though, money talks.

This could just be a matter of the Mets being used to chum the waters as Boras attempts to bait other teams into upping their bids. The Twins have maintained that they want Correa back and the Giants seem to be itching to add star power after missing on Aaron Judge. Those are the only two suitors named by The Athletic, no mention of the Cubs as a possibility.

Is that just a matter of Boras feeding information to spur action or could the inflated market have priced the Cubs out completely? It’s feeling more and more like the latter is true, even if Correa would accept “less (than $30 million) on an average annual basis if he signs a deal of more than 10 years,” and there’s a there’s a growing fear that Dansby Swanson could end up fielding more offers as a reasonably-priced consolation.

I don’t even know what to believe at this point, but I have to admit it’d be pretty hilarious to see Cohen throw such a huge middle finger up to so many other owners.