Spending big doesn’t equal winning big

Five months ago, at the start of spring training, I listed the Mets as one of the winners of the offseason.

The item praised owner Steve Cohen for signing free agents Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, and Jose Quintana while retaining Edwin Díaz, Brandon Nimmo, and others.

That the Mets had increased their luxury tax payroll to a record of $363 million was a sign that Cohen was committed to winning.

A few weeks after that, I wrote that the owners of the Mets, Padres, and Yankees should be commended for investing heavily in their teams to bring a championship to their fanbase.

The not-so-subtle inference was that the Red Sox owners were not as committed, having dropped the team’s payroll out of the upper third of the game.

Those opinions didn’t age well, did they?

The Mets and Red Sox split two games at Fenway Park on Saturday. The Mets won the completion of a suspended game, 5-4, before the Sox came back to win the second game of the series, 8-6.

At 46-52, the Mets are 17½ games behind the Braves in the National League East and seven games out in the wild-card race with five teams ahead of them.

The Mets have a below-average lineup and pitching staff and the supposed wit and wisdom of Buck Showalter hasn’t done much to change that.

Cohen has promised not to fire anybody during the season but you have to wonder what Oct. 2 is going to look like.

Cohen, who loosely inspired the cutthroat Bobby Axelrod character in “Billions,” is unlikely to have much patience for finishing in fourth place.

Even if the Mets want to use the trade deadline to remake their roster, it’ll cost them.

Verlander is signed for $43.3 million next season and Max Scherzer is sure to pick up his $43.3 million option considering he is 8-4 with a 4.20 ERA after allowing four home runs on Saturday.

Any decent return would require Cohen covering a big chunk of their salaries.

The Padres are only slightly better than the Mets but don’t plan to break up the team.

The Yankees are over .500 but still well behind the Orioles and Rays in the division. They collapsed once Aaron Judge went on the injured list.

The Yankees will be free of Josh Donaldson after this season. But fading DJ LeMahieu — he has a .708 OPS the last three seasons — is signed through 2026 and Giancarlo Stanton is under contract through 2027. He has been an All-Star once in the last six seasons.

Of the teams with the 10 largest payrolls, only five are within a game of the postseason. The same is true of five of the teams with the 10 smallest payrolls.

The Diamondbacks, Orioles, Marlins, Rays, and Reds offer proof that’s it’s always more about developing talent than buying it.

So no matter what happens this season, the Red Sox can claim they got it right.

If they squeeze into the postseason, which still seems doubtful given the fragile rotation and unreliable defense, ownership and baseball operations can say it proves that big spending isn’t required.

But even if they’re home for October, the Sox can continue selling the notion that this season was another step down the road with young players such as Brayan Bello and Triston Casas joining the mix, and more on the way.

That only Rafael Devers, Trevor Story, Garrett Whitlock, and Masataka Yoshida are under contract beyond 2024 speaks to the financial flexibility that has become the mantra at Fenway Park.

Still, given the lack of pitching prospects in the minors, the Sox will have to spend money on the rotation at some point beyond $10 million flyers on pitchers like Corey Kluber.

Nate Eovaldi signed with Texas for two years and $34 million with a vesting option for 2025.

Had the Sox chosen him instead of Kluber, where would they be in the playoff race today?

There is plenty to question about the Sox. But this weekend offers the reminder that it could be a lot worse.

At least they’re not the Mets.