Ranking MLB Teams with the Highest Payrolls
There’s a lot of money that goes into professional sports. Just look at the salaries of pro players in football, basketball, hockey and baseball. The salaries have lots of zeros behind them. These players deserve big bucks, though, because every game, they’re putting their body through a lot of stress. They also give sports-watchers, like you and me, something fun to watch year in and year out. So, as the MLB season kicks off, let’s rank the MLB teams with the highest payrolls.
MLB Teams with the Highest Payrolls
Spotrac.com is keeping dibs on the MLB cash with a real-time look at the 2024 payroll totals for each MLB team. “These figures derive from a player’s payroll salary, which includes the combination of a base salary, incentives and any signing bonus proration,” they explain. If you’re wondering, the league average MLB payroll in 2024, according to Spotrac, it’s $151,002,190. Also, according to the study, the Oakland Athletics currently have the lowest payroll in MLB at $45,515,000. The next lowest is the Pittsburgh Pirates at $72,014,000. It’s also important to note that because this is a real-time analysis of the payrolls, these numbers can change at any time.
1. New York Mets at $297,913,333
2. New York Yankees at $290,791,666
3. Houston Astros at $237,303,141
4. Philadelphia Phillies at $237,182,617
5. Atlanta Braves at $224,315,000
6. Toronto Blue Jays at $222,601,784
7. Los Angeles Dodgers at $217,721,666
8. Texas Rangers at $215,755,000
9. Chicago Cubs at $215,480,000
10. San Francisco Giants at $187,917,909
A few more key teams include the Boston Red Sox at $161,224,847; Seattle Mariners at $129,158,333; Detroit Tigers at $95,073,933; and Tampa Bay Rays at $87,216,012. I’m surprised to see the Tigers’ payroll so low. The Tigers are a huge deal in Detroit, so I was expecting them to shelve out more cash for the team. I also think it’s totally appropriate that the New York Mets and New York Yankees are battling it out for the top spot. That’s not a big surprise.
MLB Power Rankings: Top Teams to Start 2024
