As part of Major League Baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified earlier this week, the owners and union agreed to a fourth-tier surcharge for reaching the $290 million luxury tax threshold.
The league-wide surcharge has been coined the “Cohen Tax” as the penalty was put in place to combat the lucrative spending on payroll by Mets owner Steve Cohen.
Cohen opened up on the new tax rules at the Mets spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida on Sunday.
“I know the name for it, it’s called the Cohen Tax … the way I describe it, it’s better than a bridge being named after you or something like that. It’s still a lot of money to spend on a payroll,” Cohen said. ”I don’t feel that it’s so confining that I can’t live with it.”
Given some of the team’s needs in free agency, it would not be surprising to see the franchise approach the new $290 million luxury tax watermark. No team has ever gone beyond $300 million in payroll in the history of MLB, but the Mets could come close given that they’re in the market for relief pitcher help and another bat in free agency.
The Mets already gave free agent pitcher Max Scherzer a three-year deal worth $130 million prior to the 99-day lockout.
The future Hall-of-Famer will likely finish his career in the Big Apple competing in the same division as the Nationals, who he helped deliver a World Series title to in 2019.
