The New York Mets must pay a record luxury tax of nearly US$101 million after a fourth-place finish in their division, among an unprecedented eight teams that owe the penalty for the past season.
Owner Steve Cohen’s Mets finished with a tax payroll of US$374.7 million, figures finalized on Thursday by the MLB showed.
That topped the previous high of US$291.1 million by the 2015 Los Angeles Dodgers.
Photo: AP
The Mets’ tax bill came to US$100,781,932 after they finished fourth in the National League East at 75-87 in the most expensive flop in baseball history. That more than doubled the prior high of US$43.6 million by the 2015 Dodgers.
The Mets saved about US$18 million for this year with their summer selloff, trading Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robertson and Mark Canha.
The final amount owed by the Mets would have been slightly more, but they benefited from a tax credit of US$2,126,471 under a provision in the latest collective bargaining agreement for a payroll overcharge involving three players they traded.
Other teams owing tax money are the San Diego Padres (US$39.7 million), the New York Yankees (US$32.4 million), the Dodgers (US$19.4 million), the Philadelphia Phillies (US$6.98 million), the Toronto Blue Jays (US$5.5 million), the Atlanta Braves (US$3.2 million) and World Series champions the Texas Rangers (US$1.8 million). The Blue Jays, Braves and Rangers are paying tax for the first time.
The first US$3.5 million of tax money is used to fund player benefits and 50 percent of the remainder is to be used to fund player individual retirement accounts. The other 50 percent of what is left goes to a supplemental commissioner’s discretionary fund intended to be given to teams receiving revenue-sharing money that have grown their non-media local revenue over several years.
Next year’s initial threshold is US$237 million. If the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Padres or Phillies go over, they would pay at the highest tax rate, rising to 110 percent for the amount over US$297 million.
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