A Salary Cap Would Make A Mets Comeback Even Harder

The New York Mets have a lot of issues to fix, and they’d probably love to be addressing them. Like every other team in the league, though, the Mets are currently hamstrung by the upcoming lockout, which is making it almost impossible to do anything constructive. 

That leaves us all with a lot of time on our hands, and Will Sammon of The Athletic decided to put his to good use by addressing the issue of how a hard cap of $245.3 million would affect the Mets. 

That’s the first-pass proposal that the owners have put on the table, and while it has no chance of becoming reality it does represent a good starting point to break down a prospective Mets fix. 

Sammon described it as a “worst-case scenario” for the Mets, and he started his calculations by using the tax thresholds for the competitive-balance tax, which work from the average annual value of each player’s contract rather than the year-to-year salaries. That means the Mets would have to cut about $25 million from their books and try to get better, per Sammon. 

The Mets could get there by sacrificing second baseman Marcus Semien, which certainly wouldn’t break any hearts in New York. Semien was adequate in the field and barely hit at all, so his job is going to be on the line anyway. 

Sammon also suggested the possibility of a hard floor, which is a much more intriguing idea. He posited the idea that a team like the Cleveland Guardians that would have to spend quickly might be willing to welcome back a certain shortstop whose deal has become an albatross forthe Mets. 

As far as helping the current team under those restrictions, the Mets would have to do all of their work through the trade market. That would mean trying to get out from under at least a couple of their worst contracts -- we’re thinking Semien, starter Sean Manea and pitcher Kodai Senga -- while getting back something of value in return. 

Good luck with that, but it does create another interesting possibility, which is the idea of doing a complete rebuild. The Mets are close to needing to do that as it is, and getting rid of some of their deadwood for some minor prospects would represent a starting point. 

It’s not going to be pretty either way, but it’s important to remember that the owner’s number is just the first salvo in what looks like it’s going to be a long war.