NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball payroll fell from $ 4.22 billion to $ 1.75 billion during the pandemic-shortened season, with the series’ world champion Los Angeles Dodgers leading $ 98.6 million – the smallest for the top donor in 20 years.
The base wage for 40-man rosters fell to $ 1.54 billion. This is based on information sent to teams by Major League Baseball on Friday night and received by The Associated Press. That was a decrease of $ 3.99 billion in 2019.
The prorated portion of the signing bonuses was $ 120.6 million, a small decrease from $ 122.8 million. Bonuses earned fell from $ 26.9 million to $ 25 million.
Acquisitions of unexercised 2021 options totaled $ 58.2 million, more than double the $ 26.9 million repurchases of unexercised 2020 options, a sign of cost reductions in the face of lost revenue.
Los Angeles won its first title since 1988 when it beat spending for the first time since 2017, when the Dodgers topped it for the fourth straight year. The total has not been as low as top funders since the New York Yankees in 2000 at $ 95.3 million.
The Yankees were number 2 for the second straight season at $ 83.6 million. The New York Mets ranked third for the Wilpon and Katz families for $ 83.4 million in their final season, up from 12th and highest since their second place in 2009. The Mets were named by Hedge last month Fund manager Steven Cohen bought payroll increase for the next year.
Houston ranked fourth at $ 81.4 million down from eighth place, followed by the Chicago Cubs at $ 80.6 million down from third place.
San Diego finished sixth with $ 76.3 million, followed by Washington ($ 76.2 million), Texas ($ 75.2 million) and the Los Angeles Angels ($ 69.9 million).
Boston, two years away from a World Series title, fell from first to 13th place at $ 63.3 million after stars Mookie Betts and David Price were swapped for the Dodgers.
AL Champion Tampa Bay finished 28th with USD 29.4 million, ahead of Pittsburgh (USD 24.1 million) and Baltimore (USD 23.5 million).
The basic salaries were reduced by 60/162 due to the shortened schedule as part of an agreement between MLB and the players’ association after the spring training was interrupted by the novel corona virus. The start of the season has been postponed from March 26 to July 23, and each team’s schedule has been cut from 162 to 60 games.
If full salaries had been paid and a full schedule had been played with the usual underage view average, the number of employees would likely have increased by 4% from 2019.
While the luxury tax was suspended, three teams forecast it would exceed the $ 208 million tax threshold based on full annual average payrolls including benefits and a COVID credit of at least $ 1.5 million per club : the Yankees ($ 239.8 million), Houston ($ 224.3 million), and the Chicago Cubs ($ 216.3 million).
New York and Chicago, both for the second consecutive year, would have paid 30% of the amount over $ 208 million to $ 228 million, and the Yankees would have paid 42% of the amount over $ 228 million. Houston would have paid 20% of his surplus.
The Yankees avoided a full tax burden of $ 10,965,773, the Astros $ 3,263,801 and the Cubs $ 2,480,775, according to AP’s calculations. If they had paid on a 60/162 prorated share, the Yankees would have owed $ 4,061,397, the Astros $ 1,208,815, and the Cubs $ 918,805.
Still, each of these teams will have the compensation rate of a luxury taxpaying club if they sign a free agent who has turned down a qualified offer from another team: each team would lose their second and fifth highest selection in the 2021 amateur draft, and lose 1 million US dollars in international amateur signing bonus pool allocation.
Philadelphia was just under the tax threshold at $ 207.3 million and the Dodgers at $ 204.6 million.
Boston fell to $ 184.9 million after a Red Sox record of $ 13.4 million luxury tax was paid in 2019 when the team failed the playoffs.
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