Cohen would like to get under that threshold at some point, but not now. Not when the Mets have momentum and not when they have a lineup deep enough to compete with the one out west. The Mets simply aren’t ready to compete with a lower payroll yet. They don’t have a farm system regularly churning out big-league players.

Mets owner Steve Cohen spoke with reporters on Tuesday morning, discussing the organization’s spending outlook after another huge offseason. Cohen acknowledged that a winter involving a record-setting Juan Soto contract and retaining Sean Manaea and Pete Alonso pushed spending beyond his initial expectations.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Steve Cohen has visions of dropping below what even he wryly called on Tuesday the “Cohen Tax” threshold. I bet he believes the day is coming in the next few years when David Stearns has overseen a farm system that annually delivers difference makers and depth.