When spending, Dodgers swing for the fences
Kershaw and crew payroll worth $233.9M to top majors, as league sees hike in salaries
NEW YORK— Baseball’s average salary rose 4.4 per cent to $4.38 million (U.S.) on opening day, according to a study of contract terms by The Associated Press, and the Los Angeles Dodgers topped spending for the third straight season.
The Chicago Cubs boosted payroll by $51 million, adding Jason Heyward, John Lackey and Ben Zobrist in an effort to win their first title since 1908.
After beating the Cubs in the NL Championship Series and losing to Kansas City in the World Series, the New York Mets hiked spending by nearly $38 million.
Coming off its first playoff appearance in a decade, Houston raised payroll by almost $26 million after starting last season with the lowest in the major leagues. St. Louis also rose by nearly the same amount.
Among rebuilding teams, Philadelphia cut spending by $43 million, Milwaukee by $40 million and Cin- cinnati by nearly $27 million. At $62.6 million, the Brewers are last in the major leagues for the first time since 2004, the last season before Mark Attanasio bought the club.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, at $33 million, is the highest-paid player for the second straight year. Former teammate Zack Greinke, who left to sign with Arizona, is second at $31.8 million, followed by Boston pitcher David Price at $30 million.
The Dodgers began the season at $233.9 million, down from a record $270.2 million when 2015 began. The New York Yankees, No. 1 for 15 straight years before the Dodgers’ payroll surge, are second at $225 million followed by Detroit ($196 million), Boston ($190 million) and San Francisco ($173 million).
The average for the 864 players on opening-day rosters, the disabled list and the restricted list was $4,381,980, and the percentage increase was the lowest since a 4.1 rise in 2012.
But if Atlanta had not released Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn in the last week and if Tampa Bay had kept James Loney, the average would have been up 5.4 per cent to nearly $4.43 million.
Among the major North American leagues, the NBA has the highest average salary at $6 million this season, according to its players’ union, a figure boosted by the league’s maximum roster of 13 active players per team. The NHL Players Association calculated the league average at $2,803,043 in 2014-15, the last season available, and the NFL Players Association figured the 2015 average at $2,467,438.
The AP’s figures include salaries and pro-rated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed. For some players, parts of deferred money are discounted to reflect current values.
Payroll figures factor in adjustments for cash transactions in trades, signing bonuses that are the responsibility of the club agreeing to the contract, option buyouts and termination pay for released players. Jays add Morales to bullpen In an effort to shore up the left side of their bullpen, the Blue Jays signed veteran reliever Franklin Morales to a non-guaranteed, one-year deal Saturday night, less than 24 hours before Sunday’s season opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The deal is worth $2 million if Morales, 30, is still with the club in 45 days. If he is released before then, the Jays are only on the hook for the pro-rated amount.
With Aaron Loup opening the season on the Jays’ disabled list with a forearm strain, Brett Cecil was the team’s lone lefty in the bullpen. Morales, who last season posted a 3.18 ERA in 62 1⁄ innings for the World
3 Series-winning Kansas City Royals, gives the team another option. The former starter, who was cut by the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of spring training, held left-handed hitters to a .192 batting average last season.
“I think it’s a great pickup,” manager John Gibbons said before Sunday’s game. He said Morales will primarily be used to get lefties out in middle relief, leaving Cecil to handle the later innings.