Much has been made about the payrolls of Major League Baseball teams for decades. Since the league doesn’t have salary caps, the sky is the limit on what a team can pay an individual player or a whole roster.
This has become especially of interest during the current MLB postseason. Three of the four final teams in the playoffs have the top three payrolls: N.Y. Mets, N.Y. Yankees and L.A. Dodgers. It would stand to reason that the more you pay, the more you win, but we all know that’s not always the case. Just take a look at the Cleveland Guardians.
The New York Mets have spent a lot of money over the past few years to build a playoff contender, and they did it by attracting top free agents with big paychecks. The Mets payroll this season is reported to be $317,778,899, according to Spotrac.com. However, more than $56 million of that is going to players no longer with the team; Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and James McCann. If you only count the Mets active roster, the payroll drops to $186,528,021.
The Mets are facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers have the fifth highest payroll in MLB, but we’ll get to them in a minute.
The New York Yankees had the second highest overall payroll this season at $309,434,607. With an active roster costing the team $260,231,924, the Yankees are the highest paid team in the playoffs. The Yankees finished the regular season with a record of 94-68, the best in the American League. I guess you can say their payroll paid off. However, going back to the 1970s, when George Steinbrenner bought the team, they have infamously been big spenders and not afraid of spending more than any other team to attract free agents.
The Houston Astros had the third highest payroll this season, $255,271,371, but the team barely squeaked into a Wild Card spot and were eliminated in two games (2-0) by the Detroit Tigers.
The Philadelphia Phillies payroll comes in fourth at $247,149,605. They entered the playoffs with the second highest active roster payroll of $226,211,338. The Phillies were knocked out of the National League Division Series with the Mets, 3-1. Philadelphia spent a lot of money in the offseason going after top notch free agents, Aaron Nola and Whitt Merrifield.
The Los Angeles Dodgers had the fifth highest payroll this season at $241,010,117. The Dodgers had the best record in the National League at 98-64. It was expected for Los Angeles to have a good year, after all, they spent a truck load of money to get highly sought after free agents Shohei Ohtani, who signed a historic 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers, and star Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Ohtani certainly has shown his value this season by making history and creating his own 50-50 club. Nobody before him had ever hit 50 home runs and stole 50 bases in the same season. Ohtani finished the regular season with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases.
Ironically, the fourth team still in the playoffs, the Cleveland Guardians, had the 23rd highest payroll this season, $106,774,581. This team has proven that it really doesn’t matter how much you spend, you can still contend. Cleveland had the second-best record in the American League this season at 92-69, just behind the Yankees.
Other teams that made the playoffs this season and where they ranked in total payroll included:
- Atlanta $236,433,901
- San Diego $171,769,598
- Kansas City $122,546,954
- Milwaukee $115,473,379
- Baltimore $109,837,539
- Detroit $98,511,614.
It’s interesting to see how many teams were at No. 20 or higher in MLB payroll but still made the playoffs. Maybe teams should reevaluate their spending in the future, especially with how frail pitchers seem to be these days. It’s not uncommon for a pitcher to be sidelined for weeks with a blister or sore wrist.
Yeah, that’s not going to happen.
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