New York Mets owner Steve Cohen has built the most expensive team in baseball history, sending shock waves throughout the sport and destroying previous payroll records with an unprecedented three-year spending binge. His additions have included two future Hall of Famers in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander and two other possible Hall of Famers in Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa (pending conversations over his physical, which concerned the Mets after it scuttled his deal with San Francisco).

In his first two years, Cohen committed over $714 million in future salaries and was rewarded with a 101-win team in 2022. That was merely the calm before the storm. This offseason, the Mets have committed $806 million in free agency, including giving Verlander a two-year deal that matched Scherzer’s annual salary ($43.33 million) as the highest-paid players in the game, re-signing center fielder Brandon Nimmo and closer Edwin Diaz, signing Japanese star right-hander Kodai Senga ($75 million) — and, then, because one potential Hall of Fame shortstop wasn’t enough, they swooped in for Correa, though the saga of waiting for his signing to become official is still playing out.

The Mets’ 2023 estimated payroll, including a luxury tax bill that will exceed $100 million: around half a billion dollars.

We’ll have all offseason to evaluate the team and predict whether the Mets will even beat the Braves in the National League East. In the meantime, let’s look back at a few other of the most expensive teams in major league history — and what lessons can be drawn from what happened to them.

1992 Toronto Blue Jays

Record: 96-66

Background: The Blue Jays had been contending for several years, reaching the American League Championship Series in 1985, 1989 and 1991, but they hadn’t yet reached a World Series. The opening of SkyDome midway through the 1989 season pushed the Jays to record-setting attendance figures, including more than 4 million in 1991. According to a report from Financial World magazine at the time, the Blue Jays earned nearly $18 million more in gate receipts than any other team. In response, longtime general manager Pat Gillick started spending on free agents, a departure for a franchise that had stressed player development.

What happened: Prior to the 1992 season, the team signed Dave Winfield and Jack Morris, and then it acquired David Cone in August to bolster the rotation for the playoff run. It worked: The Blue Jays won the World Series. “The Toronto Blue Jays paid big money to win big,” read The Associated Press story about their championship. It was true: When final payrolls were calculated, the Blue Jays topped the majors at $49.1 million. That was 57% higher than their 1991 figure of $31.3 million, and a 25% increase from 1991’s top payroll of $39.2 million — which belonged to the Oakland A’s. (The A’s had the second-highest payroll in 1992; it was a different era.)

By comparison, the Mets’ total payout for 2022, including an unofficial estimate of $29.9 million in luxury tax, will be about $317.9 million. As of now, their estimated 2023 payroll of $390 million plus a luxury tax payment of $111 million would clock in at $501 million — a 57.5% increase over 2022 that matches the increase the Blue Jays made in 1992 (although less if you factor in only actual player salaries).

The Blue Jays doubled down in 1993. They lost Winfield and Cone, but they re-signed Joe Carter and then signed Paul Molitor and Dave Stewart and made an in-season trade for Rickey Henderson. That’s four future Hall of Famers in Winfield, Morris, Molitor and Henderson. They once again led the majors in payroll, at $51.6 million. They won a second straight World Series.