Major League Baseball is back with teams who splashed big in the offseason looking for a return on their investments.
The Los Angeles Dodgers made waves throughout the offseason months after landing Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. And that's before mentioning other expensive additions like pitcher Tyler Glasnow.
But the Dodgers managed such lucrative signings in large part due to contract deferrals, such as Ohtani deferring $680 million of his $700 million until after his deal runs out.
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Other big-market teams spent considerable sums, too, like the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants, who recently bolstered their pitching depth by adding recent Cy Young winner Blake Snell.
So, which MLB teams have the highest payroll and which ones have the lowest? Let's take a look, ranking style:
Who has the highest payroll in MLB for 2024?
Because of the aforementioned deferrals, the Dodgers are not among the top-five teams with the highest payroll. Here's a ranking of all 30 teams, via Spotrac, which factors in a combination of base salary, incentives and signing bonus prorations.
- New York Yankees: $290,541,666
- New York Mets: $283,801,859
- Houston Astros: $237,303,141
- Philadelphia Phillies: $237,182,617
- Atlanta Braves: $224,315,000
- Toronto Blue Jays: $222,601,784
- Texas Rangers: $215,710,000
- Chicago Cubs: $215,480,000
- Los Angeles Dodgers: $214,721,666
- San Francisco Giants: $187,917,909
- St. Louis Cardinals: $164,301,667
- Boston Red Sox: $161,224,847
- Los Angeles Angels: $155,918,094
- San Diego Padres: $152,995,453
- Colorado Rockies: $132,185,000
- Arizona Diamondbacks: $130,771,716
- Seattle Mariners: $128,158,333
- Chicago White Sox: $116,673,333
- Minnesota Twins: $116,353,690
- Kansas City Royals: $106,094,570
- Milwaukee Brewers: $94,484,960
- Detroit Tigers: $94,313,333
- Baltimore Orioles: $91,978,668
- Washington Nationals: $90,171,429
- Tampa Bay Rays: $88,458,712
- Miami Marlins: $86,535,000
- Cincinnati Reds: $86,148,333
- Cleveland Guardians: $84,433,928
- Pittsburgh Pirates: $72,014,000
- Oakland Athletics: $47,275,000
What is the average MLB payroll in 2024?
The league average MLB payroll in 2024 is $151,002,190, via Spotrac.
Who has the lowest MLB payroll in 2024?
The Oakland Athletics currently have the lowest payroll in MLB at $47,275,000. It's nearly $30 million less than the next lowest team, the Pittsburgh Pirates.