MLB payroll disparity is laughable ... and growing
It’s a monstrous and horrifying Great Divide that has long cast a shadow in Major League Baseball, but never before has the divide in team payroll between the haves and have-nots been so pronounced,and created such a deep impact in the standings.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a current player payroll of $261 million, easily the highest in the league, and more than double the total of 15 teams, according to the team payrolls and player salary information disseminated from MLB’s Labor Relations Department and obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
The Dodgers’ payroll, excluding cash transactions from other teams like the Boston Red Sox splitting starter David Price’s annual $16 million salary, is a staggering $284 million.
It will be the first time since 2017 that the Dodgers will be subjected to a luxury tax penalty.
On the other side of the ledger, the Pittsburgh Pirates have a major-league low $49.1 million payroll.
The Dodgers’ payroll is a whopping $200 million more than four teams.
The New York Yankees are the only other team with at least a $200 million payroll, currently at $203.6 million. Their payroll would be $221.9 million if not for the $19.3 million they received in cash transactions, with the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers assuming the entire 2021 salaries for Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo, respectively.
While there are 11 teams in baseball that have payrolls exceeding $150 million, there are 10 teams who have payrolls under $100 million – including four who have sub-$75 million payrolls.
The gross disparity reflects why it’s critical that MLB and the players union find a way in their labor discussions to solve the great divide in the next collective bargaining agreement.
When there are teams like the Orioles not even attempting to win, with a current 18-game losing streak and on pace to lose 112 games, there’s a huge competitive problem.
How fair is it that Tampa Bay is 15-1 against the Orioles this year and the White Sox are 7-0, but 11 teams haven’t had the chance to play them this year?
The Reds, who are 9-1 against the Pirates this season, play them nine more times in their final 36 games.
The San Diego Padres, who are 3-4 against them this year, don’t play the Pirates again, but have 19 of their remaining 36 games against the National League’s two best teams, the San Francisco Giants and Dodgers.
The Reds and Padres just so happen to be battling for the same wild-card berth.
Sure, huge payrolls is not an automatic ticket to the playoffs, or Angels star Mike Trout would have been in the postseason more than once in his career.
Small payrolls certainly stack the odds, but it doesn’t necessarily mean your postseason chances are hopeless. Just ask the Rays, who are about to reach the postseason for the third consecutive year, and the seventh time in 14 seasons, despite a payroll that is nothing more than pocket change to the Yankees and Red Sox. The A’s, with an $89.3 million payroll, are vying to reach the playoffs for the seventh time in 10 seasons.
Yet, the Mount Rushmore of the lowest payrolls are hopelessly out of division and wild-card playoff races. The Miami Marlins ($60.5 million), Orioles ($52.3 million), Cleveland ($51.9) and Pittsburgh ($49.1 million) are a combined 105 games under .500, led, of course, by the Orioles (38-85).