MLB payrolls 2026: Why Dodgers don't have the highest in baseball
USA TODAY
Haters say the Dodgers are ruining MLB. But the team with the highest payroll didn't even make the playoffs.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-time World Series champions, the team that is drawing all of the hatred, the team responsible for calls for a salary cap, wishes everyone would stop and just look at the numbers.
Yes, they project to open the season with a $322.4 million payroll, based on the MLB Labor Relations Department's present-day salary calculations on 40-man rosters obtained this week by USA TODAY Sports.
But guess what?
Due to the Dodgers' heavy use of deferred contracts and signing bonuses, the team's 2026 payroll is dwarfed by the New York Mets, whose 40-man payroll is projected at $357.6 million (in MLB's calculated present-day value).
That's a team that didn’t even make the playoffs last year and last won a World Series in 1986.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was scheduled to earn $894,000 this season, will now earn in excess of $100 million with his new deal with the Chicago Cubs.
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