The Los Angeles Dodgers, the defending World Series champions, have become the Evil Empire on the West Coast.
Despite the moaning and groaning you’ve heard about all the star players the Dodgers have signed to monster contracts over the last two seasons, they don’t have the highest team payroll heading into the 2025 major league season.
That distinction belongs to the New York Mets, according to MLB’s present-day calculations, obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
The Dodgers, thanks to heavily deferred contracts to Shohei Ohtani and most of their biggest stars, have an opening-day payroll of $321.3 million, second to the Mets’ payroll of $323.1.
The Dodgers’ secret is the deferred payments that dramatically lower the present-day value of the contracts, led by Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contact, which also lowers their luxury-tax commitment and penalties.
Ohtani is deferring $68 million of his $70 million annual salary, lowering his present-day value.
The wave of deferred contracts throughout baseball leaves Juan Soto of the New York Mets as baseball’s highest-paid player. He signed a record 15-year, $765 million contract in December with no deferrals. His salary is calculated at $61.875 this year by MLB, easily the highest in baseball history
Here’s a look at the team-by-team payrolls, based on opening day rosters, injured list and restricted list. The figures, compiled by USA TODAY, are calculated by the MLB Labor Relations Department of the present-day value of contracts including deferrals and signing bonuses.
The figures by MLB and distributed to all teams are intended to reflect the cash obligations in any given year.
2025 MLB team payrolls
(In present-day value calculated by MLB)
New York Mets, $323,099,999
Los Angeles Dodgers, $321,287,291
New York Yankees, $293,488,972
Philadelphia Phillies, $284,210,820
Toronto Blue Jays, $239,642,532
Texas Rangers, $220,541,332
Houston Astros, $220,217,813
Atlanta Braves, $214,836,398
San Diego Padres, 208,909,333
Chicago Cubs, $196,288,250
Arizona Diamondbacks, $195,294,235
Boston Red Sox, $193,629,093
Los Angeles Angels, $190,508,096
San Francisco Giants, $173,019,524
Baltimore Orioles, $162,314,278
Seattle Mariners, $146,793,414
Detroit Tigers, $143,193,033
Minnesota Twins, $142,762,022
St. Louis Cardinals, $141,455,581
Kansas City Royals, $130,001,503
Colorado Rockies, $120,693,976
Cincinnati Reds, $115,466,833
Milwaukee Brewers, $115,136,227
Washington Nationals, $107,653,761
Cleveland Guardians, $100,522,729
Pittsburgh Pirates, $87,645,246
Chicago White Sox, $82,279,825
Tampa Bay Rays, $79,216,312
Athletics, $73,118,981
Miami Marlins, $67,412,619
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