NEW YORK – Major League Baseball’s payroll has fallen 4% in 2021, compared to the league’s last full season.
And the total of $ 4.05 billion was the lowest of any full campaign since 2015.
The fall in the wage bill has generated part of the discontent of the workers which has already led to the first unemployment in more than a quarter of a century. This month, the collective contract expired and the owners decided to impose a shutdown on December 2.
The payroll is down 4.6% from its all-time high of just under $ 4.25 billion in 2017. It was the first year of the collective agreement that expired.
The drop is included in information sent by clubs to the commissioner’s office and obtained by the Associated Press on Monday. Spending for Major League Baseball players has not been so low since 2015, when a total of $ 3.9 billion was recorded.
The Los Angeles Dodgers dominated the majors, with a payroll of $ 262 million in 2021. It was the second highest in major league history, behind just the $ 291 million paid by the same franchise in 2015.
The Dodgers were sanctioned Monday with the so-called luxury tax, for $ 32.65 million. Baseball has again taxed clubs that exceed their payroll cap after suspending the tax for the pandemic for a year.
—
San Diego Padres were the other club that had to make an extra payment, for $ 1.29 million, after failing to make the playoffs with a roster including stars including Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, Will Myers and Eric Hosmer.
Five teams fell to less than $ 4 million or less of reaching $ 210 million in payroll, the limit the tax was worth. These are the Philadelphia Phillies ($ 208.4 million), New York Yankees ($ 208.4), New York Mets ($ 207.7), Boston Red Sox (207.6 $) and the Houston Astros ($ 206.6).
Gross payrolls and those calculated for luxury tax purposes are measured differently. Payroll includes salaries, prorated free signing shares and other guaranteed income, as well as rewards. In some cases, the deferred portions of the salary are discounted to their present value.
The luxury tax payroll is a little more prospective, since it is calculated on the average of the annual values of the contracts of the players who are part of the workforce of 40 members.
This includes approximately $ 15.5 million per team for employee benefits.
Payrolls have increased steadily, from $ 3 billion in 2011 to $ 4,070 in 2016. They peaked in 2017, before declining slightly to $ 4.2 billion in 2018 and 19.
Because the pandemic shortened the 2020 campaign, wages were paid in a 60/162 ratio. This reduced the payroll to $ 1.75 billion.
.
