The MLB and MLBPA will be returning to the bargaining table tomorrow, in order to hopefully begin the process of thawing the MLB landscape, which has remained quite frosty for over a month now. While this is surely welcome news for the baseball world, it doesn’t seem like the end of the lockout is imminent. At this point, with the scheduled start of spring training about a month away, there’s no avoiding a scenario with a quick turnaround between the conclusion of the lockout and the resumption of baseball activities. It’s been deduced by many that this will surely lead to a period of frenzied hot stove activity, as there are still a great number of free agents to be signed, as well as trades to be made, as teams look to set their rosters before the season begins in earnest.
Once that happens, some teams will surely be more active than others, depending on their respective circumstances. Front office members are typically cagy in public about what sort of payroll parameters they are working within, for sensible reasons. When negotiating with a player’s agent, for instance, it’s harder to make it seem as though you have little wiggle room if you’ve publicly boasted about having millions of dollars at your disposal. That makes it impossible for us to know exactly how much money is remaining in each team’s piggy bank, but we can at least make inferences by looking at precedents.
It’s not a guarantee that a team will stick to their previous habits, of course, as we’ve seen with the spending spree from the Mets this year. Some teams may intentionally be taking a step back to rebuild and won’t be spending to previous levels. There’s also the fact that many teams may be waiting to see how the luxury tax tiers are affected by the next CBA. (MLBTR’s Anthony Franco covered that issue in greater detail here.) However, there are some broadly predictable patterns as to which teams are usually big spenders and which are usually low spenders.
Without further ado, here’s a quick shorthand version of where each team is at, comparing their projected 2022 Opening Day payroll to their previous record outlay for Opening Day. The following numbers are actual dollars, not luxury tax calculations. (2022 projections courtesy of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Payrolls from previous years from Cot’s Baseball Contracts.)
- Angels: $10MM under. (Current projected payroll of $172MM, previous high was $182MM in 2021.)
- Astros: $18MM under. (Current projected payroll of $170MM, previous high was $188MM in 2021.)
- Athletics: $7MM under. (Current projected payroll of $85MM, previous high was $92MM in 2019.)
- Blue Jays: $23MM under. (Current projected payroll of $140MM, previous high was $163MM in 2017.)
- Braves: $9MM over. (Current projected payroll of $140MM, previous high was $131MM in 2021.)
- Brewers: $2MM under. (Current projected payroll of $121MM, previous high was $123MM in 2019.)
- Cardinals: $14MM under. (Current projected payroll of $150MM, previous high was $164MM in 2021.)
- Cubs: $89MM under. (Current projected payroll of $114MM, previous high was $203MM in 2019.)
- Diamondbacks: $46MM under. (Current projected payroll of $86MM, previous high was $132MM in 2018.)
- Dodgers: $45MM under. (Current projected payroll of $227MM, previous high was $272MM in 2015.)
- Giants: $75MM under. (Current projected payroll of $126MM, previous high was $201MM in 2018.)
- Guardians: $86MM under. (Current projected payroll of $49MM, previous high was $135MM in 2018.)
- Mariners: $71MM under. (Current projected payroll of $87MM, previous high was $158MM in 2018.)
- Marlins: $46MM under. (Current projected payroll of $69MM, previous high was $115MM in 2017.)
- Mets: $68MM over. (Current projected payroll of $263MM, previous high was $195MM in 2021.)
- Nationals: $79MM under. (Current projected payroll of $118MM, previous high was $197MM in 2019.)
- Orioles: $103MM under. (Current projected payroll of $61MM, previous high was $164MM in 2017.)
- Padres: $25MM over. (Current projected payroll of $199MM, previous high was $174MM in 2021.)
- Phillies: $10MM under. (Current projected payroll of $181MM, previous high was $191MM in 2021.)
- Pirates: $61MM under. (Current projected payroll of $39MM, previous high was $100MM in 2016.)
- Rangers: $38MM under. (Current projected payroll of $127MM, previous high was $165MM in 2017.)
- Rays: $7MM over. (Current projected payroll of $84MM, previous high was $77MM in 2014.)
- Red Sox: $45MM under. (Current projected payroll of $191MM, previous high was $236MM in 2019.)
- Reds: $12MM under. (Current projected payroll of $115MM, previous high was $127MM in 2019.)
- Rockies: $41MM under. (Current projected payroll of $104MM, previous high was $145MM in 2019.)
- Royals: $57MM under. (Current projected payroll of $86MM, previous high was $143MM in 2017.)
- Tigers: $83MM under. (Current projected payroll of $117MM, previous high was $200MM in 2017.)
- Twins: $38MM under. (Current projected payroll of $91MM, previous high was $129MM in 2019.)
- White Sox: $51MM over. (Current projected payroll of $180MM, previous high was $129MM in 2021.)
- Yankees: $14MM under. (Current projected payroll of $214MM, previous high was $228MM in 2013.)
Wait… the Pirates have a payroll???
I didn’t realize that the Pirates payroll reached $100 mil in 2016 (a year after their 3-yr playoff run). The 2022 payroll is projected to be $39 mil and will likely be lower in 2023 when the kids start coming up and they lose the $5 mil to Perez, the $4 mil to Yoshi, the $2 mil to Quintana, and probably the $1.95 mil to Newman and the $1.8 mil to Gamel. They’ll replace those 5 guys with 5 guys making major league minimum (likely $600k). That will slash the payroll another $11.75 mil to under $30 mil.
The $100MM in 2016 wasnt from any signings. It was due to pay raises from arb players, despite dumping players like Walker. And that $100M number was slashed before the end of the 2016 season…. been slashing the payroll with a Pirate-sized sword ever since. Its beyond pathetic.
Apparently I’m missing something. Ahahaha!
Details On Luxury Tax Payments For Dodgers/Padres
December 21st, 2021 at 7:30pm CST • By Anthony Franco
While the Dodgers shattered the luxury mark, the Padres very narrowly exceeded the first threshold. Their final ledger checked in at $216.5MM
@Gotham — This is just Opening Day payrolls and only actual commitments for the year. The $216.5MM number for the Padres is their full-year luxury tax allocated payroll, which is quite different.
@Oddvark
I was referring to this “previous high was $174MM in 2021)”
@Gotham — Yep. The Padres’ previous high of $174MM in 2021 was their highest Opening Day payroll when considering just Opening Day payrolls and only actual commitments for the year. The $216.5MM “final ledger” number for the Padres (from the other article) was their full-year luxury tax allocated payroll, which is quite different.
@Oddvark
Yea I looked it up after my last post,- I should’ve known the difference – I still think it’s a little convoluted though. I appreciate your help pal.
Yep. First they pocket $40 million or so of other teams revenue sharing then they spend the rest on what it’s designed for.
Good for Nutting. Bad for everyone else.
Thats alot of unders.
I can see why the union is striking.
Keep in mind that the lockout started one month into the free agency period and a lot of these highs were from 2021 and 2019. 1 or 2 mid-tier signings could turn a lot of those unders to overs. The problem isn’t the teams $10-15MM under, it’s with the franchises that have the capacity to spend but are tanking and have a low payroll like Baltimore, Washington, CHC, etc.
Only a 3rd of the league is within 20 mil of their highest payroll and only 4 are over.
Some late signings could send more over but the money isn’t close enough to where the majority will be spending more than they did in the previous years.
That’s an issue when half the league is stagnant or negative on wages.
I highly disagree. There are plenty of good free agents remaining for a good majority of the teams to at least get close to their previous highs.
Meanwhile, we’re still dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19, so you can’t expect to see that many new record highs irregardless of other economics issues in the sport.
“within their highest ever” being the key phrase. That’s the equivalent of saying that 100% of the teams are projected to exceed their all-time worst record. And then to use that to suggest that the league has a new level of competitiveness.
At the end of the day, the levels of the individual teams is meaningless. Check back when the season starts, and look at the total payroll.
It remains to be seen if the Cubs are tanking or not. At the very least, they will probably spend enough to be merely rebuilding.
How is a full rebuild different than tanking? The Cubs have shown recently that they’re in full rebuild. Maybe that view won’t be the consensus fans until Contreras is dealt away. But it seems pretty clear with all the talent they have prted ways with.
Where’s that Ameritrade money? Staying with the Ricketts, of course.
@Paddy0875 – With the Cubs signing Marcus Stroman and picking up Wade Miley on waivers, I can say without a doubt they are not going into a full rebuild. They are definitely turning a large part of their roster over but those are two “win now” transactions and not the type of players you sign to start a 3-4 year full rebuild. They are trying to walk a tight rope of adding young talent while staying competitive throughout the process. I still wouldn’t count them out of signing another 1-2 of the remaining Top 50 free agents (I believe there are 20+ left to choose from). While they might not spend on Correa, I could see them trying to bring Schwarber or Castellanos back to the team. Even if they don’t sign any of the remaining Top 50 and choose to trade their catcher, they are still not in a full rebuild. Look to Baltimore and Pittsburgh as true, full rebuild organizations.
Based on this it seems like no one should complain about the Braves, Mets, White Sox, Padres or Rays spending even if they don’t spend anymore. They’ve already outdone themselves. The Braves are expected to either resign Freddie or go after other players so they are really going to outdo themselves. My guess is more teams will break their previous record once the lockout ends.
For the teams who probably won’t compete anyway… Who can really blame them? Why spend record payroll when it already looks like you won’t win? Wait until the farm builds up a core that can win your respective division and then use all the money you saved to go all in when it really counts.
I will say the A’s and Guardians should be spending more and I’m not sure why the White Sox payroll has always been so low. Outside of those 3 I think the other teams who aren’t spending know they don’t really stand a chance next year anyway.
With the Braves already at their highest payroll ever, I can seem them tacking on another 35 mill for Freddie along with filling their outfield needs and what not.
The union isn’t striking. It’s a lockout, which is the opposite.
Shhh it’s always the owners fault.
Either I missed the saracsm in your comment, or you missed Ry’s point.
sarcasm. out here, owners are billionaires who should own a baseball because it’s cool, not to make money.
Sure they own the teams make money, and they do make money. Piles of it. But how much they make is a deep, dark secret. OTOH, what players get paid is known by the public right down to the dollar. Weird, right?
that’s because they didnt after to a deal so a bunch of dudes are still free agents.
Means more teams have figured out there is no need to over-pay for free agent talent that is unlikely to produce over long-term contracts. Go younger with more payroll flexibility. Nothing wrong with logical approach.
BaseballGuy1:
“Go younger with more payroll flexibility.”
I’d say that’s easier said than done. The young guys with payroll flexibility are products of the farm. Since the draft is a crapshoot, if a team has had bad luck drafting, or has drafted well, but had bad luck with injuries, it’s hard to go that route.
And even if a team has a good young core under team control, that’s usually not enough if they want to win a title. Most good teams still have to complement the roster with FAs. And, there are very few young FAs, and those are expensive needing long term deals if they’re any good. There are zero young FAs worth anything that come cheap..
So if a team insists on not giving a FA a long term deal that could put them over the top, the chances of signing that guy, and winning a title is reduced.
Maybe there’s a change in thinking, but most teams have felt that overpaying a guy at the tail end of his career is worth it if they won a WS title.
That’s a lot of millions I’m getting none of.
I can see why I’m depressed.
yea well there are more 100million dollar players this year already this years past. not to mention more FA’s available. The gap between great and average players is widening. So much for the players union and their support of the little guy.
It’s pretty easy to forget that the Orioles actually had a $164MM payroll fairly recently…
The Orioles didn’t have a losing season between 2012 and 2016, and they made the playoffs in 3 of those 5 seasons.
Then coming off of that run, in 2017 they had their highest payroll, but ended that season at 75-87, and it went rapidly downhill from there.
The Mets are awesome at getting the least for their investment.
They have a pretty good lineup. Their SP is questionable with DeGrom’s recovery. Maybe Cohen lands Kershaw with a one-year deal.
Yeah, the Mets actually need to spend another $20-$30M if they want to be true WS contenders. All of that money needs to go to pitching. I’d be shocked if they get more than 260 innings out of deGrom & Carrasco combined this year. Neither one can stay healthy for a full season, and Scherzer has had more IL stints lately himself. Losing Thor, Stroman and Rich Hill puts a huge dent in their rotation depth and their young pitchers haven’t shown enough yet to prove they can step up and fill in for a deGrom or Carrasco when one of them hits the IL for an extended period of time. Walker’s second half results were worrisome as well, not to mention losing Loup out of their bullpen. They need to add at least one more proven starter (if not two) and another 2-3 bullpen arms. Maybe they can fill some of these needs via trades (they are overloaded with quality infielders), but Uncle Stevie will need to open his wallet further if the goal is to build a true, 2022 World Series contender in NY. Starting pitching depth/age/overall skill (1-5) is the reason why Atlanta is still favored to win the East. They have great young starters and old faithful Charlie Morton anchoring the staff. Even with Scherzer and deGrom, I still like Atlanta’s staff better overall. And watch out for those Marlins the next couple of years. One or two more breakout seasons from their young starting pitchers could give the Marlins a Top 5 pitching staff in all of MLB. Add a few more offensive weapons to that lineup and Miami becomes one of those teams you don’t want to play when your season is on the line. With all that said, hats off to Cohen for putting his money where his mouth is. The team on paper is better than it was last year except for pitching. Adding Scherzer is a great start but they need to see it through to the end. If they make the right decisions, they could actually buy a championship this year.
I don’t understand the notion of “deGrom can’t stay healthy for a full season.” He’s been healthy his entire career up until this season. He pitched over 200 innings in each of 2017, 2018 and 2019 and he was fully healthy throughout the entire shortened 2020 season. There’s just this recency bias when it comes to people thinking he’s “injury-prone.” Some people point out that he’s 33, however, he has very little wear and tear on his arm. He came up as a shortstop and the first time he ever pitched was his junior year of college in 2009, which is astonishing considering how good he is. So he got a very late start in the majors, debuting right before he turned 26 in 2014.
There are a lot of tankers there…their previous spending highs tell you, tolerably well, what their capacities are. What I’d love to see is some analysis on the impact of tanking on ticket and concession sales. The 2016 Pirates (bad year, but coming off three consecutive playoff years) drew 2,249K. The 2019 Pirates, 1,491K
Perhaps the average payroll over, say, the last 5 years might be a bit more interesting?
I don’t know what Mike is talking about. What I would love to see is concession prices go down. That way I don’t have to pay fine dining prices for cheap hot dogs.
Go to an Atlanta Falcons game. Their concession prices are by far the best in all of professional sports. Arthur Blank was adamant about keeping concession prices low when they built their stadium, and they have recently reduced prices for concessions which is unheard of. I wish more owners would follow his lead, especially in baseball. Baseball is the one sport left where you can actually take kids and not have to take a loan out for the ticket prices. Most stadiums still have $20 – $25 seats in the OF. Unfortunately, you end up paying more for concessions than you do for the tickets when you have a pack of hungry kids with you. The Falcons sell hot dogs for a $1.50 each; it’s fantastic!
not going to happen with salaries increasing. Same as ticket prices.
Youre allowed to bring your own water into ballparks. Try going 3hrs without eating, then enjoy the local places after (or before) the game.
These Jason Martinez numbers appear to reflect a modest increase (roughly 600k) for pre-arb players, which makes sense, as there should be a an raise with the new CBA.
For those who like to nitpick, that’s the number you should subtract from the totals for each pre-arb player squeezed out by a free agent or trade acquisition on a major league contract.
“Projected payroll” is a little misleading because it’s not projecting any FA signings or trades but assuming any holes in the roster are filled with players earning league minimum salaries. That is not going to be the case for virtually every team, and some will spend a lot more (while some may shed some salary, but less so overall)..
And just making comparisons to teams’ highest ever payroll also doesn’t seem that meaningful. Some ebb and flow is natural, and not every team should be expected to be at their peak payroll every year. I guess the MLBPA would love that, but that doesn’t seem reasonable.
What purpose do you think these comparisons are made for?
You act like these are favorable to the union. They’re just statistics bro. Calm down the owners don’t need you sticking up for them on this one. Social warrior
NO YOU CALM DOWN!!!
What it does is give an idea of what teams are willing to spend. For example, seeing this makes me think the braves don’t resign Freddie because they are already at their highest payroll ever. I don’t seem them tacking on the 30-35 million for him plus their other outfield needs.
Coming off a World Series victory, the Braves should be flush with cash and should be willing to exceed their previous high-water salary mark; certainly by enough to re-sign Freddie. Morton’s salary comes off the books after this season, as do some of their higher priced bullpen arms (Will Smith, etc). I could see them stretching the 2022 budget to bring Freddie back as they can get the budget back under control in 2023. Doing so could prevent them from spending on other area of needs unless they are able to trade away some salary with good prospects attached to help fill their remaining roster gaps.
With that much salary off the books after this season they could also backload a deal.
A salary floor will have a few teams scrambling to buy up the remaining free agents.
Paul Dolan going to hold the negotiating parties hostage before he lets a salary floor happen
Nah, he is an attorney, a Notre Dame grad, and turns 64 on July 7th.
I’d say there’s less than a 1% chance of a salary floor being instituted. The closest they could come would be to penalize the revenue sharing teams for not spending enough money on payroll. For example, any team that doesn’t spend at least $50M on MLB salaries does not get any revenue sharing funds. Spend up to $55M and they get 25%, Spend $60M and get 50%, etc. Any team that does not spend at least $50M on salary does not deserve to get hand outs from the other teams in my opinion. I’m not sure how much each team receives from the revenue sharing model but I believe it is a pretty substantial amount where it would hurt if some of the money was held back.
I looked into the three year span prior to the pandemic and the figure was about $115 million per club.
Demanding all revenue sharing money go to payroll would add an average of over $250 million per year to player salaries.
There are a handful of teams that seem to habitually abuse this system, Pittsburgh being #1 by a mile.
To me, this sort of floor should be a no brainer as it would only hurt a handful of bad owners. If I was a good owner I’d be pissed guy like Nutting pocket my love story then bring a team nobody wants to see to my ballpark.
Wonder how much attendance suffers when the Pirates are the visiting team.
If we had a 100% tax on the amount payrolls below $90 million in consecutive years that would go a long way.
So if one year, you are at $60 million no tax, but then the next year you need to be above $90 million.
Could phase the implementation in due to COVID-19 pandemic, though I have yet to see hard data that owners are not doing well given the increases in equity values and better television contracts, possibly offsetting reduced ticket sales,parking, food and merchandise sales.
I think that it would obviously help to have a salary floor, or maybe something between say 80-160M which is the sweet spot and if you’re below that, you are penalized by possibly losing draft picks or revenue sharing, and same with if you are above. However, I was looking through when some of those teams like the Orioles and Mariners had high payrolls, they had a few bad contracts. Spending money for the hell of it doesn’t equal success but maybe it would force some of these pathetic teams to re-sign their own talent and build that way. Seeing what the Guardians, Pirates and Orioles doing is nothing short of pathetic.
holecamels35:
Some teams have not spent wisely, although we mostly only know that through hindsight, but I can guarantee no team is spending money just for the hell of it. Every team that spends, and not every team does, is doing so in an attempt to build a winning roster. Some teams are better at that than others, but they all have the same goal, to win.
Why spend money on free agents when. you can’t win? What those teams are doing is trying to rebuild because they can’t compete with 250 million dollar payrolls with their current rosters. Thankfully your not my accountant and you obviously have no idea how bad baseball economics is.
Yep. It’s a tough one. I’m guessing these guys are astute businessman and irrespective of how much you have, spending on a lost cause would have to be at odds with their instincts. I don’t think it’s greed. Just business acumen.
So maybe a floor takes that out of the equation. It’s not a decision anymore. It’s a rule of engagement.
The Pirates payroll is insane. Scherzer is getting paid more than their roster. That’s a pretty serious issue.
Obviously, if a team is not near to contending, it isn’t wise to spend big on FAs. I question the current strategy of the Rangers, e.g.
No one has a crystal ball. Everyone, including myself, thought the Padres would be closer to contending than they were last season. It’s easy in hindsight to say they shouldn’t have been as aggressive as they were. But I would much rather be a Padres fan (I’m not), than a fan of a team that refuses to spend money.
To say baseball economics is bad is just lazy. It’s a complex format that is not easily described with blanket statements, like it’s bad. And it’s obviously different for teams like the Dodgers, as opposed to the Pirates.
I’m fully aware of the complications of the economics of baseball, and me citing possible actions of teams with money to spend, that are close to contending, is no indication I’m unaware of the issues.
And, it’s, thankfully, *you’re* not my accountant, not. “Thankfully your not my accountant…”.,
I didn’t respond to you and sadly my English teacher has passed away or I would go back for a lesson.
However I will respond to your comment about the system.
When a team is able to build a minor league system based on bad free agent signings, things are broken.
I’m not nearly as cynical as you apparently are. I don’t believe teams intentionally make bad signing for the purpose of rebuilding their farm systems. If they’re trying to rebuild the farm, they’re obviously doing so in an attempt to field a winning team.
If they’re trying to field a winning team, it seems any FA signings would also be to that goal. The problem is tanking.; teams not trying to win in order to rebuild the farm. Tanking teams, like the Orioles of the last few years, do not sign FAs, at least not good, or expensive ones.
Marlins projected payroll 69 million
Hehehehe
Nice
Tell me again (with no proof) the A’s are slashing payroll…
The Oakland GM said it’s time for a reset so get your popcorn ready! It will be such a shame to see all that established talent walk out the door for unproven, but highly rated prospects. A’s fans have to be grateful that Billy Beane has stayed with them for so long. He is the master of acquiring the right type of prospects who can come in and start contributing right away. I don’t think Oakland is a playoff team next year but I’m sure they’ll be somewhat competitive with a goal of returning to the playoffs by 2023. It’s all but official that they will be reducing payroll and resetting the roster with younger and cheaper players.
The A’s are slashing payroll. Feel better? Ahahaha!
angels were actin like they were willing to go up to $240-250 million.
I’m shocked the Yankees’ all time record payroll was only $228M. I thought they had a year where they spent over $250M. Maybe that was their CBT calculation? Also, I wonder if the $16M owed by Boston to David Price is included in their $191M? I’m guessing it is since it is technically payroll due to him.
I can’t wait until that Price albatross finally comes off the books at the end of this season! That Jon Lester article reminded me how badly Boston blew that relationship. They could have re-signed Lester at $155-$160M, but instead they low balled him and ended up signing David Price as a replacement for a record-setting 7 year deal for over $220M! Queue Cher: “If I could turn back time”.
The $16M owed to Price is indeed included in the Boston number, You can see the full breakdowns over at Fangraphs.
Dorothy”
The NYYs over the years have paid way more in tax than anyone, $348M to LADs $150M in second place. But not because they exceeded the threshold by a lot, but did it consistently over a good stretch of time. They were over from 2003 to 2017. The Red Sox were very good at it, They were over 5 separate times, but only for a maximum of 3 seasons, so they’ve only paid $50.5M total.
this is the answer to why teams like Cleveland Baltimore Pittsburgh aren’t spending.
Not really. In 2019 they each received $118 million in revenue sharing and another $90 million from MLB. None of them sniffed a $118 million payroll.
A lot of that $90 million was a one time payment for MLB Advanced Media stuff, but it was also apparently pocketed.
there is a simple solution here my friend. HARD CAP with floors.
A hard cap is a solution, but it’s far from simple. In fact, it’s impossible. It’s the last thing the players would agree to.
Anyone that thinks there’s the remotest possibility of a hard cap should read “The Game”, by Jon Pessah. It documents the CBA negotiations following the strike in 1992. It’s well researched, and documented, and a really good read as well. Anyone that has read that book will understand how a hard cap is a total non-starter, as well as how agreement on most issues is difficult.
They should get rid of the reset. It provides teams with too big of an incentive to slash spending every few years.
Establish a progressive tax system with tiers. No resets. That’ll keep the big spenders spending.
Put the tax into a fund small market teams can access for use on payroll.
Yankees fans should be irate that the team is spending less now than it did 8-9 years ago.
Gbs: Trust me, we are. They have not increased payroll since 2005 (certain years they did but overall and last year it was the same). Yet, they went from approximately $277M revenue to $678M! They went from about 75% of their total revenue toward payroll to roughly 30%? That’s ridiculous. And we can’t great a real SS, C, CF?! Yeah, we ain’t happy.
Hal is penny wise and dollar stupid with the roster. Walks over dollars to pick up pennies, whatever platitude or adage one may attribute to being incredibly foolish in business – that’s him. And he doesn’t care as long as the profit margins go up. But the fans are growing tired of it.
What I find interesting is that only 6 teams have had payrolls to $200MM. One, the Tigers is unlikely to go to that level again, as Mr Illitch was kicking in his own funds at the end. This makes the raising of the CBT such a small issue as it is only effecting a handful of teams, if it is actually having effect at all.
Didn’t the Tigers turn in profits in 2012 and 2013? I would not rule them out to spend in the $ 200m ballpark again. Over the last years, C. Illitch has also invested rather in equipment and the organization than in MLB roster.
Gruß,
BSHH
Yeah, lowering it or keeping it the same makes sense. The vast majority of teams won’t, or can’t justify, going up near those levels anyway. Increasing it only widens the gap.
That chart only shows beginning of the year payrolls, not sure anyone said this yet (I don’t read every comment) but the Dodgers ending payroll in 2015 was 346 million. That’s a huge difference.
Great point.
Pennies…
I really wouldn’t worry about the Angels, Cards, Yanks, or anyone within $10 million of previous highs.
But all in all this is further proof the old model of low salaries early then cashing in on free agency is gone.
The Rays payroll at its peak was $77mm? Amazing they have a bottom 10 payroll constantly, yet they seem like they’re always in contention with the big payroll teams for division titles. They beat teams off the field…drafting/scouting etc, then beat teams on the field too. Wished the Cubs had that kinda organizational power.
yea and all that does is allow MLB to say ‘we have parity’. Reality tells a different story.
The Rays have definitely done great overall with a limited payroll.
But they aren’t always in the upper echelon — not that long ago they had four consecutive losing seasons from 2012-2017, including a 94-loss season as recently as 2016. And they’ve never won the World Series.
They also out of necessity always trade their assets before they become overpriced. They are a great organization, but their position allows them to do things that other teams ( because of fans and optics) can’t get away with
Darragh McDonald & MLBTR:
It would be tremendous if you could overlay these numbers with [realistic] revenues, or approximations, for these teams as well, *including the added revenue each gets with the revenue sharing*.
So it would be the numbers above with another line of total team revenue + revenue sharing = total revenue. I’d love to be proven wrong in my assertion that teams are intentionally tanking & raking profit year after year (but I’m not).
Next poll recommendation: Should their be a cap? Should we penalize tanking? Should we keep it as is?
Thanks guys, great work in keeping us informed & entertained throughout this winter blackout!
The owners are partners.There’s no competition amongst them.They split all international revenue streams.No owner is getting poor.Poor Cleveland,1 of the riches families in the USA and the worst owner ever on spending money.He doesn’t want to win,he wants to count money
As a White Sox fan, I’d still like them to go after a truly big name FA one of these days. So far, Grandal is their biggest-ever contract. Maybe after ’22 when Abreu, Keuchel, and Kimbrel (if they somehow keep him, or the bad contract they trade him for) come off the books, they’ll make a real effort in the offseason.
Uhhhh, why would you want Abreu coming off the books in order to sign a big free agent? You should be wishing your team does everything possible to lock him up before he hits FA.
Comparing to a teams record is a bit of a false comparison. Would be cool to see payroll now vs 5/10 year averages of each team and the league