Who has the highest Opening Day payroll in MLB? Not the Dodgers
· Yahoo Sports
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been broadly accused of “ruining baseball,” using their owners’ deep financial war chest and television revenues to outspend 29 teams en route to back-to-back World Series championships.
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They have even become an avatar for the broader argument in favor of instituting a salary cap in MLB — an argument owners are likely to wield once the Collective Bargaining Agreement with MLB’s players union expires in December.
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For all its merit, the Dodgers-are-ruining-baseball argument is undercut by an inconvenient fact: their 2026 Opening Day payroll is not the highest in the league.
According to USA Today, that distinction belongs to the New York Mets, whose 40-man payroll is projected at $357.6 million (in MLB’s calculated present-day value). The Dodgers are second at $322.4 million, Bob Nightengale reported March 25.
The numbers are real, but they lie to a degree. The Dodgers’ Opening Day outlay is suppressed by the deferred salaries of players who will be an integral part of their 2026 roster. Kyle Tucker ($10 million), Shohei Ohtani ($68 million), Blake Snell ($13.2 million), and Mookie Betts ($10 million) will defer more than $100 million this season between only four players.
Still, it’s not as if the Dodgers are outpacing MLB — of that other teams are unwilling or unable to defer players’ salaries. According to USA Today, the New York Yankees ($301 million), Philadelphia Phillies ($283.6 million) and Toronto Blue Jays ($278.9 million) are all within $50 million of the Dodgers’ 2026 Opening Day outlay.
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