The 2024 MLB season is less than a month away.
Traditional Opening Day will be on March 28, but the Seoul Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres will begin on March 20.
Even though there are still a bunch of top free agents left to sign, we already have an idea about the payroll rankings heading into the season.
Thanks to Codify Baseball and Spotrac, we see that the New York Yankees lead the payroll rankings in MLB, even after the Los Angeles Dodgers’ spending spree that included Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, James Paxton, Teoscar Hernandez, and others.
In fact, the Dodgers are actually eighth in total payroll.
Shocking, right?
2024 team payrolls
(via Spotrac, rounded million $):291 NYY
284 NYM
237 HOU
237 PHI
223 TOR
221 ATL
216 TEX
216 LAD
215 CHC
162 STL
160 BOS
157 LAA
145 SD
144 SF
132 COL
131 ARI
125 CWS
124 SEA
116 MIN
106 KC
94 MIL
94 DET
91 BAL
90 WSH
88 TB
87 MIA
85 CIN
84 CLE
68 PIT
45 OAK— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 1, 2024
It’s the Yankees, at $291 million, as the ones with the most expensive roster in the league for the 2024 campaign.
Among their highest earners are outfielder Aaron Judge ($40 million), ace Gerrit Cole ($36 million), Giancarlo Stanton ($32 million), newcomer Juan Soto ($31 million), and Carlos Rodon ($27.83 million).
Most of them actually justify their hefty salaries with elite performance, and those who didn’t in 2023, like Stanton and Rodon, have the potential to bounce back big time.
There is a slim chance that the Yankees actually add a substantial financial commitment to this payroll if they sign Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, or another top pitcher.
Again, it remains unlikely, and they are prepared to enter the season with what they have at the moment, but it can’t be ruled out because one of those two arms would give their staff a significant jump in quality.
The Yanks hope to take this payroll, at least, to the World Series.
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