One thing that this saga has shown, is that Cohen's appetite for payment of 110% luxury tax is not unlimited. Previously, we had wondered whether Cohen had any budgetary restrictions at all. We now know that he does. His budget may be different from everyone else's (with the possible exception of the Dodgers), but it is not unlimited.
My theory is that once Cohen and Stearns broke the bank for Soto, they had pretty much given up on re-signing Alonso for the $150M+ that he wanted. But Alonso's market never materialized. So now Cohen and Stearns are looking to buy opportunistically, on the cheap if they can. If they can't, no big deal, they weren't planning on it anyway.
