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The statistics speak for themselves: For the 2017 season, the salary will be $384.7 million, plus around $111 million in luxury tax payments. And a whopping $806.1 million committed in a single offseason. New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is not thrifty with his money, which has enraged certain executives and owners of other MLB teams.
Despite (or because of) the feeble "no collaboration" caveat, that seems like a carefully veiled menace. And it demonstrates how uneasy Cohen's buying binge makes teams that have hitherto operated in fairly identical lanes.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Cohen swooped in to entice shortstop Carlos Correa away from the floundering San Francisco Giants, capping off possibly the strangest offseason by an individual franchise in a long time. It's unusual since the $111 million luxury tax charge would exceed the combined payroll of at least ten MLB teams. The $315 million paid to acquire Correa is the most money spent on free agents by the Pittsburgh Pirates in more than a decade.
While players, agents, and Mets fans applaud these actions, the other 29 clubs are concerned about the impact of Cohen's money. How do they compete with a billionaire's power and might 17.5 times over? Especially because there is no hard ceiling to limit his market-leading deals?
Given that Cohen exceeded the $293 million threshold despite the 90% tax on every dollar over the cap, some owners may desire an even stiffer luxury tax than the one agreed upon in the current CBA that ended the lockout last spring. Others may propose a pay restriction to curb Cohen's spending, something the MLB Players Association has vehemently and effectively opposed.
But those debates are years away, and it appears like Cohen will continue to construct the Mets the way he sees proper, with whatever money he decides to spend.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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