MLB Payroll: Which Team Has the Highest Payroll in MLB?

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MLB payroll

The MLB payroll has long held a reputation as one of sport’s largest.

With the average salary of an MLB player approaching $5 million per season, MLB team payrolls have skyrocketed, with the league’s top three teams writing paychecks in 2024 valued at over $1 billion combined.

In fact, the team that currently has the highest payroll in MLB is paying out $350 million in salary and over $100 million in ‘Luxury Tax’ for the pleasure.

Read on to learn more about the highest payroll in the MLB, and which teams were the biggest spenders of the 2024 season.

Highest Payroll in MLB

The New York Mets lead the way with MLB’s highest payroll, topping $350 million. They are one of three MLB teams that spent over $300 million in 2024, with the Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees combining to write paychecks valued at over $1 billion.

Rank Team Payroll Luxury Tax Paid
1 New York Mets $350,274,656 $100,002,122
2 Los Angeles Dodgers $339,826,880 $88,509,568
3 New York Yankees $314,687,091 $60,855,800
4 Atlanta Braves $278,538,792 $15,554,094
5 Philadelphia Phillies $262,422,758 $10,000,000
6 Houston Astros $260,683,706 $4,000,000
7 Texas Rangers $250,463,936 $4,039,181
8 San Francisco Giants $248,339,508 $2,267,902
9 Toronto Blue Jays $235,094,214 n/a
10 Chicago Cubs $234,798,044 n/a

Source: Spotrac MLB Team Tax Tracker

If you fancy getting a slice of the enormous MLB payroll pie, the odds are stacked against you. The odds of making it to the MLB for the average Joe are slim.

Highest Payroll in MLB

Here is a look at the top five spending clubs in MLB during the 2024 season. And, as you’ll see, the club with the highest payroll in MLB isn’t always guaranteed success.

New York Mets – $350.2 million

The New York Mets have made a habit of being the biggest spenders in MLB since owner Steve Cohen acquired a 97% interest in the club in 2020. The Mets have seen their payroll skyrocket on Cohen’s watch.

  • Cohen’s club has led the way in team salaries in each of the past three seasons.
  • The Mets’ big-spending ways have also left them saddled with large Luxury Tax bills, topping $100 million in both 2023 and 2024.
  • The club’s freewheeling spending has helped them land and keep top-tier talent like Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Luis Severino.

It means they’re always one of the favorites to win the World Series at the best MLB betting sites.

However, the boost in payroll spending has produced middling results in the MLB Postseason so far. The club has yet to reach the World Series during Cohen’s ownership reign.

Los Angeles Dodgers – $339.8 million

Like the Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been among the biggest spending MLB teams in recent years.

  • Their 2024 team payroll exploded to almost $340 million in 2024 following the offseason signing of Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani to a monster 10-year, $700 million contract.
  • However, Ohtani opted to receive 97% of his salary in deferred payments starting in 2034.
  • It means the Dodgers are enjoying significant relief from what would otherwise be a humungous annual Luxury Tax bill.

Still, big-ticket players like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are earning $30 million and $27 million respectively. The Dodgers can still look forward to a Competitive Balance Tax bill of over $88 million in 2024.

The Dodgers’ big spending has been rewarded with three straight NL West titles. However, Los Angeles has not claimed a World Series title since 2020.

New York Yankees – $314.6 million

No list of the MLB’s highest payrolls would be complete without the New York Yankees.

  • The Bronx Bombers have been among the top five highest MLB payrolls every season since 2019.
  • Their payroll has ballooned by over $100 million since 2021.
  • The 2024 edition of the Yankees is one of three teams with a payroll topping $300 million, leaving them saddled with a Luxury Tax bill in excess of $60 million.

However, that has proven to be money well spent. While the Yankees lineup features four players earning more than $30 million, they have earned their paychecks with big performances.

The trio of Aaron Judge one of the highest paid MLB players, Juan Soto, and Giancarlo Stanton have played key roles in the Yankees’ drive to the top of the AL East standings.

They have clobbered a combined 126 home runs, and while Gerrit Cole endured lengthy injury woes, the ace pitcher quickly returned to form in his midsummer return.

Still, the Yankees have been without a World Series title since 2009. This further proves that a higher MLB payroll doesn’t guarantee success.

Atlanta Braves – $278.5 million

The Atlanta Braves joined the ranks of teams paying a Luxury Tax for a second straight season, with a payroll of over $278 million.

While Braves now sit among the teams with the highest payroll in MLB, they have managed to avoid the extravagance of teams like the Dodgers and Yankees.

  • Veterans Matt Olson and Charlie Morton and injured third baseman Austin Riley are the only players earning over $20 million.
  • Even before the Braves saw their payroll vault into the stratosphere, this team had established itself as a perennial postseason contender.
  • Atlanta has reached the MLB Postseason every season since 2018.

However, the Braves have reached the World Series just once over that stretch, in 2021 when they claimed their first championship in 26 years.

They followed that up by quickly bowing out of the postseason in each of the three following seasons while winning just two total playoff games.

Philadelphia Phillies – $262.4 million

Fans of the Philadelphia Phillies endured a 10-year run during which the team failed to qualify for the MLB Postseason.

However, that has all changed as the club has opened the vaults and joined the ranks of teams with the MLB highest payroll.

  • The Phillies have seen their payroll grow from a relatively meager $73.5 million in 2020 to over $262 million in 2024.
  • The investment has paid limited dividends.
  • The 2024 Philadelphia roster featured seven players earning at least $20 million.
  • Bryce Harper, earned over $27.5 million as part of the 13-year, $330 million deal he inked with the club in 2019.

The Phillies ended their decade-long exile from the MLB Postseason in 2022.

They advanced to the World Series before falling to the Houston Astros in six games, but failed to duplicate that success with increasingly early playoff exits in each of the following two seasons.

MLB Payroll Salary Cap

MLB teams are not restricted by a strict salary cap like those that are commonplace in the NHL, NFL and the NBA which caps the earnings of the highest paid NBA players.

Instead, team owners must take into account the Competitive Balance Tax. This must be paid if the team’s MLB payroll exceeds a predetermined threshold.

mlb highest payroll

More commonly known as a Luxury Tax, the Competitive Balance Tax will be paid by MLB teams whose player payroll exceeds $237 million during the 2024 season.

The value of the Competitive Balance Tax that a team must pay is determined by how much they exceed the $237 million, and increases if the team has exceeded the threshold in two or more consecutive seasons.

In 2024, the New York Mets had the highest payroll in MLB, doling out over $350 million in salaries that will leave them on the hook for a Luxury Tax bill exceeding $100 million.

MLB Highest Payroll: Key Points

Baseball fans should not be surprised that MLB’s biggest spending teams are in North America’s largest markets, with New York and Los Angeles leading the way.

The extravagant spending by teams like the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers has renewed calls for MLB to institute a hard salary cap similar to those used in the NHL and NBA.

But while the teams spending the most money on MLB payroll are regularly among the clubs still playing in October and November, splurging on salaries has provided no guarantee of a championship.

In fact, the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers are the only team to win the World Series while sporting a top-five MLB highest payroll since 2018.

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Daniel Coyle
Sports Betting Expert
Daniel Coyle
Sports Betting Expert

Based in Montreal, Daniel Coyle abandoned a comfortable career in the technology industry 15 years ago to work as a freelance writer covering sports and sports betting. A diehard Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Daniel has written extensively about all major sports and has had his work published in the Montreal Gazette, Globe & Mail, Sports Illustrated, Sportsnet.ca, NESN.com, OddsShark, Sports Betting Dime, and Sports Interaction Insight, along with countless sports betting blogs.