The Mets’ luxury-tax payroll this year is somewhat deceiving.&nbsp;

The total projects to roughly $340 million, which is the highest in the sport for a second straight year.

But the Mets have roughly $65 million in dead money tied up in James McCann and — most notably — Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Remove that and the Mets fall behind the Dodgers and Yankees in payroll, just ahead of the Braves and Phillies.

It was always understood that this was a transitional season and part of that was to clean up the payroll.&nbsp;

If Cohen could wave a magic wand to make those six players disappear without future financial obligations, would he?{ai:summary}<p>The Mets boast the highest luxury-tax payroll in baseball this year at $340 million, but $65 million is dead money including Scherzer and Verlander. Once removed, they fall behind Dodgers and Yankees in spending. This year was meant to be transitional, cleaning up the payroll. #economy</p>

Do the Mets’ expensive flops make it less likely they’ll re-sign Pete Alonso?

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