MLB Insider Reveals Alarming Opening Day Payrolls
Payrolls of MLB teams has been an interesting topic over the past several years.
Dating back to the 2020 return-to-play negotiations, we have heard several MLB owners complain about the game not being profitable, with St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt making such a bold claim.
This was also a major talking point during the lockout last year.
Fortunately, there are certain owners who don’t seem to have an issue with spending.
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is a perfect example of this.
On Twitter, Bob Nightengale of USA Today gave an update on where certain teams’ payrolls stand as the 2023 season kicks off.
The NY #Mets official opening day player payroll is a record $359.462 million.
The #Yankees are next at $247.889 million.
The Oakland #Athletics are last: $58.33 million— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 31, 2023
The Mets are at the top with a payroll of $359.462 million.
This of course comes as no surprise after the team was quite busy in free agency, signing stars such as Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana, Brandon Nimmo, and Kodai Senga.
Their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees, come in second on the list with a payroll of $247.889 million.
At the bottom of the list are the Oakland Athletics, who despite playing in a large market, have a payroll of just $58.33 million.
The A’s are largely considered to be operating as a small-market team.
But what is interesting is that in other sports, whether teams are big or small-market doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue as it is in baseball.
The fact of the matter is that certain owners are willing to spend, while others may be hesitant to do that, especially those of so-called small-market teams.