The New York Mets have consistently topped Major League Baseball in spending, leading the league for a third consecutive season in 2024 under owner Steve Cohen. Over a four-year period, the team’s payroll and luxury tax expenses have hit a whopping $1.36 billion. This figure surpasses the collective player expenditures of certain other teams like the Marlins, Pirates, and Rays over the last 21 years.
This year, the Mets set a new record with a regular payroll of $333.3 million, according to MLB’s finalized figures. This surpasses the previous record of $319.5 million that the Mets set themselves in the previous year, becoming the first franchise to breach the $300 million mark. In terms of total expenses, last year saw the Mets reaching $430.4 million, which included $97.1 million in luxury tax payments, setting an unprecedented record.
Since Steve Cohen’s acquisition of the team from the Wilpon and Katz families in November 2020, the Mets have spent a significant $1.13 billion on payroll and $228.7 million on luxury taxes—a figure reached even before offering a landmark $765 million contract over 15 years to Juan Soto, an outfielder, starting this season. Cohen highlighted his ambitious vision for the team, remarking in December that achieving excellence often involves discomfort.
The Mets’ hefty spending from 2021 to 2024 slightly exceeded the expenditure totals from 2004 to 2024 of teams like the Marlins, Pirates, and Rays. In stark contrast, the Oakland Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates have spent considerably less, with Oakland at $269 million and Pittsburgh at $271 million over the same duration.
Overall, MLB’s regular payroll costs saw a 1.8% increase, tallying to $5.158 billion, building on a three-season growth trend of 27.3% since 2021 under the current labor agreement, when the figures were at $4.051 billion. The Mets are the first team to top the payroll list over three consecutive seasons since the Los Angeles Dodgers’ streak from 2014 to 2017.
Following the Mets, the New York Yankees recorded the second-highest payroll with a personal best of $310.9 million, while the World Series champion Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies held third and fourth places with $270.8 million and $249.1 million, respectively. Although ten teams crossed the $200 million mark, down from 11 last year, a record-low four teams recorded payrolls below $100 million.
Notably, Shohei Ohtani’s contract, with $68 million of his $70 million salary deferred to a future period (2034-43), reflects $28.2 million for payroll considerations alongside $1.03 million of non-cash compensation.
Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics registered the league’s lowest payroll at $66.5 million in their last year in Oakland before a temporary relocation to Sacramento, preceding a planned move to Las Vegas. The Pittsburgh Pirates weren’t far off, ranking 29th with an $87.3 million payroll. These teams, alongside Tampa Bay, remain the only ones never to reach a $100 million payroll.
In postseason stats, the 12 teams that made it spent a combined $2.37 billion, constituting 46% of total payrolls. This figure includes $1.02 billion (19.9%) from the League Championship Series teams. The Dodgers and Yankees alone accounted for $644.2 million of this sum.
In total, the four League Championship Series teams accounted for 23.5% spending with payroll and luxury tax combined, equivalent to $1.29 billion of $5.47 billion. The Yankees and Dodgers themselves represented 13.7% of the total at $747.3 million.
Among the teams increasing their payrolls, Arizona took the lead with a $48 million rise to $177 million following their NL pennant victory, and the Chicago Cubs upped theirs by $34 million to $230 million. Contrastingly, San Diego’s payroll dropped $85 million to $172 million in 2024 after owner Peter Seidler’s passing. Similarly, both the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins reduced their payrolls by $51 million and $34 million to $179 million and $133 million, respectively.
Regular payrolls incorporate 2024 salaries, earned bonuses, and shares of signing bonuses and non-cash compensation for 40-man rosters, with deferred salaries discounted to present values and considerations like termination pay and option buyouts included.
While MLB calculated the average salary at $4,592,147, the players’ association, using a slightly different methodology, reported it as $4,655,366. Luxury tax figures consider payrolls with average annual values, benefits, and other specific bonuses.
