The Mets have far outspent the Phillies. Here’s how the big spenders stack up in the NL East.

Turns out, the Mets’ failure to sign Jacob deGrom wasn’t a failure at all. It was a warning sign. In the three weeks since Steve Cohen let his ace right-hander walk for $37 million a year, the Mets owner has practically added a full second payroll to a 2023 ledger that already was the highest in the game.

The latest salvo came Tuesday in the form of a 12-year, $315 million contract for superstar shortstop Carlos Correa, who presumably will shift to third base and play Alex Rodriguez to Francisco Lindor’s Derek Jeter. The deal is more or less the same one the Phillies gave to Trea Turner. The big difference is that the Mets didn’t need Correa. Such is life when you have hedge fund money.

» READ MORE: The Phillies have raised their floor in free agency. Their ceiling will depend on three familiar faces. | David Murphy

Shortstop is the best place to start any evaluation of an offseason spending spree that could leave the NL East looking a lot like its AL counterpart during the height of the Yankees-Red Sox spending wars. I’m not sure who the Braves’ equivalent is, but Cohen and John Middleton clearly have treated them to an uncomfortable lesson in the division’s new rules of engagement. Not only did the Phillies and Mets both spend $300-plus million on Turner and Correa, the Braves watched their own shortstop sign a seven-year, $177 million deal with the Cubs. Hey, at least that minor league contract for Jesse Chavez will age well.

Frankly, it’s a testament to the Braves’ ability to draft and develop talent from within that we can even have a conversation about where they currently stand in the 2023 pecking order. The moves that win regular-season division titles aren’t usually the same ones that win offseason press conferences. Carlos Beltrán can tell you that. The Mets and Phillies may have spent a combined $43.35 million in 2023 salary on five relievers, but the Braves landed a guy who is better than four of the five when they acquired 27-year-old righty Joe Jiménez and his 2.00 FIP from the Tigers. Those are the kinds of moves that keep the Braves consistently in the hunt even as they say goodbye to free agents like Dansby Swanson.

At some point, though, the numbers become difficult to overcome. To date, the Mets have added $146.25 million in 2023 salary alone. That’s only $30 million less than the Braves spent all last season. Heck, it’s more than 17 teams spent all last season.

Again, that’s the salary they’ve added. Heading into the offseason, the Mets already had more money on the books than all but six teams spent last season. In total, they’ve added $731 million and 34 guaranteed contract years. That’s the equivalent of six six-year, $121 million contracts. In one offseason.

» READ MORE: Trea Turner is the latest tribute to John Middleton’s desire to win | David Murphy

It’s hard to even lump the Phillies in with the Mets. What Cohen has done this offseason is the equivalent of signing Trea Turner, Taijuan Walker, Matt Strahm, Nick Castellanos, and Kyle Schwarber in one offseason. Plus Corey Knebel, Brad Hand, Jeurys Familia, and Archie Bradley. And that’s still only $710 million over 35 years. The order of magnitude matters.

Question is, how much better did everybody get? Up to this point, we’ve left out a critical piece of context, which is the talent everybody lost. Part of the Mets’ spending spree is offset by the fact that they saw their own free agents sign contracts worth a combined $262 million over 19 years. But they still wound up with a huge net positive, at least as far as we can tell.

To try to get a sense of how much the NL East landscape has changed, I put together a little data study involving each team’s current projected top nine hitters, five starters, and five relievers for the upcoming season. I combined their 2022 individual numbers and then compared them to the numbers posted by the old squad. For instance, the five projected members of the Mets’ 2023 rotation combined to post a 2.71 ERA in 2022. That’s a healthy improvement over the 3.28 ERA posted by the old five starters. Likewise, the new Mets lineup combined for an .803 OPS, an improvement over the .781 posted by the old lineup. The new bullpen lowered its ERA from 2.71 to 2.29 compared to the old one.

Here are the comps:

Phillies’ new lineup: .773 OPS, 164 home runs per 4,500 plate appearances

Phillies’ old lineup: .754 OPS, 160 home runs per 4,500 plate appearances

Braves’ new lineup: .774 OPS, 178 home runs per 4,500 plate appearances

Braves’ old lineup: .792 OPS, 196 home runs per 4,500 plate appearances

Mets’ new lineup: .803 OPS, 143 home runs per 4,500 plate appearances

Mets’ old lineup: .781 OPS, 133 home runs per 4,500 plate appearances

Phillies’ new rotation: 3.36 ERA

Phillies’ old rotation: 3.71 ERA

Mets’ new rotation: 2.71 ERA

Mets’ old rotation: 3.29 ERA

Braves’ new rotation: 3.19 ERA

Braves’ old rotation: 3.46 ERA

Phillies’ new bullpen: 3.31 ERA

Phillies’ old bullpen: 3.12 ERA

Mets’ new bullpen: 2.29 ERA

Mets’ old bullpen: 2.71 ERA

Braves’ new bullpen: 3.45 ERA

Braves’ old bullpen: 2.58 ERA

All of which makes sense. After all, free-agent dollars are awarded largely based on production in the previous year. The Mets and the Phillies added players with better 2022 production than the players they replaced. The Mets added more. The methodology also is hardly scientific. If I can think of a good format to share the complete worksheet, I will. The point was to get a rough estimate of how much each team’s additions/subtractions make them on paper.

At the end of the day, you can just as easily look at the salaries.