The Los Angeles Dodgers, the defending World Series champions, have become the Evil Empire on the West Coast.
Despite the moaning and groaning you've heard about all the star players the Dodgers have signed to monster contracts over the last two seasons, they don't have the highest team payroll heading into the 2025 major league season.
That distinction belongs to the New York Mets, according to MLB’s present-day calculations, obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
The Dodgers, thanks to heavily deferred contracts to Shohei Ohtani and most of their biggest stars, have an opening-day payroll of $321.3 million, second to the Mets’ payroll of $323.1.
The Dodgers’ secret is the deferred payments that dramatically lower the present-day value of the contracts, led by Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contact, which also lowers their luxury-tax commitment and penalties.
Ohtani is deferring $68 million of his $70 million annual salary, lowering his present-day value.
The wave of deferred contracts throughout baseball leaves Juan Soto of the New York Mets as baseball’s highest-paid player. He signed a record 15-year, $765 million contract in December with no deferrals. His ...
