The Mets were among the biggest sellers of the deadline. Impending free agents like and seemed obvious trade targets for weeks. The Mets signaled a larger retool when they dealt and for prospects, moving on from players theyd envisioned as co-aces of a contending team just a few months ago. Scherzer told The Athletics Ken Rosenthal yesterday that Mets higher-ups had informed him they were toward 2025-26, a key reason the future Hall of Famer agreed to waive his no-trade clause. Owner Steve Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler more or le s expre sed similar sentiments in response to Scherzers comments. Cohen met with reporters this afternoon and elaborated on the organizational plans. Max asked me straight: Are you going to be all-in on free agency next year? And I couldnt give him that promise , Cohen told the New York beat ( ). It doesnt mean were not going to bring in free agents. It may not be to the extent that we did in the past because Im carrying a lot of dead money. The owner added he wanted next years team to be very competitive but conceded the 2024 club isnt likely to carry the same expectations as this seasons group. Philosophically, he noted it wont be as star-studded a team as it was, but stars dont nece sarily make for wins. Unsurprisingly, Cohen didnt elaborate on what kind of spending range he anticipates for the club going into 2024. It certainly seems as if theyre preparing to scale back from this years MLB record levels. New York opened the season with a player payroll pushing $331MM, per . Their player spending was nearing half a billion dollars after factoring in their immense luxury tax bill. T.J. Leaf Jersey Next years club has around $204MM on the books and a $219MM competitive balance tax figure, as calculated by . Thats before factoring in a $6.5MM club option for or arbitration salaries the most notable of which by far is that of , wholl be due a raise on this years $14.5MM tab. The Mets dont have many impending free agents of note at this point. is headed to the open market after a down year. and have player options they seem likely to exercise, although Ottavino could plausibly test the market. Theyre going to head into the offseason projected above next years $237MM base luxury tax threshold, but theyd be well below this years spending levels. Of course, theyll need to tap into free agency, even if its not at the top of the market. A projected rotation of , , , and either or is nowhere near sufficient. Theyll need to sort out the corner outfield after dealing Pham and , particularly if is still battling the migraine i sues that have plagued him this year. They could look for an upgrade at designated hitter. return would be huge for the bullpen, but theyll need to add middle inning depth. Given that me saging, it seems those additions will be more modest than the star pursuits of the past two winters. Its not a truly unpredictable turn of events. Cohen has spoken on a few occasions about considering the clubs recent level of spending unsustainable over the longer haul and talked about building through the farm system. Paying down huge chunks of the Scherzer and Verlander contracts to land , and demonstrates genuine commitment to stockpiling younger talent. Yet its undoubtedly a sharp pivot from the organizational approach of the past couple seasons. Even if theyre not planning to concede 2024 entirely, the acknowledgement theyll enter the season with diminished expectations naturally leads to a question about Alonsos future. The star first baseman is going into his final season of arbitration eligibility. If the Mets view themselves as longer shots for a playoff spot, theres an argument to shop him this winter (particularly since the upcoming free agent cla s is so light on impact hitters beyond ). Cohen declined to go into specifics on Alonsos status but called him an integral part of the Mets and said he hopes they can work things out on a long-term contract. Theres nothing to suggest talks are ongoing or imminent, though. Cohen pointed out that the Mets re-signed after hed reached free agency last winter. (Daz was also within a few days of the open market when he re-upped.) Alonso didnt feature prominently in trade rumors this week, but concurrent speculation about both extension or trade po sibilities figure to be key storylines next winter. Bojan Bogdanovic Jersey