View: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRp2lEfZR_fsUGh6vQpiVCVZKQWuFIF2Gxo7GdYLY5zMAc4MCa3ZLSRzgelHZHrsw/pubhtml
Here are the CBT taxes payed by each team for the last 20 years. "Stopped spending relative to their peers" is hogwash. Last year they dipped under (still holding a payroll of 97% of the CBT) to reset the tax, as they have always done regularly. They're spending like they always have.
The difference is in the past couple years a few more teams have gone completely bonkers, and now appear to regret it. SD's massive spending got them nothing, and now their most notable moves this winter have been departures. The Mets didn't even wait till the offseason to dump salary, and who have they added this winter, Manaea at 2/28? The Dodgers and MFY are spending like they always do and Philly retained Nola, but none of the other teams that went over the line last year seem to be in a hurry to keep the throttle on. Obviously Boras's guys are still out there so the picture could still change, but
the 2022-23 spending jump is starting to look more like a blip induced by Steve Cohen and a dying Peter Seidler pushing the market to strange places.