Saturday, June 4, 2022. 08:57
NEW YORK – The Los Angeles Dodgers started the season with a record payroll of US$310.6 million according to the calculation made for the application of the payroll tax, commonly known as the “luxury tax”, this which means the club is on course for a record $47 million penalty, according to figures compiled by Major League Baseball and obtained by theAssociated Press.
Five teams exceed $230 million in payroll, the first level entailing the payment of a penalty. If they are still five clubs above that amount at the end of the season, they will be one team away from the record six, in 2016.
After adding Freddie Freeman and signing Trea Turner to a lucrative one-season contract, the Dodgers are the only team to clear the fourth tier, dubbed the “Cohen Tax,” for New York Mets owner Steve Cohen. .
However, the Dodgers’ payroll will lose $28.1 million if the domestic violence suspension imposed on starter Trevor Bauer is upheld on appeal.
The Mets, in their second season in Cohen’s portfolio, have the second-highest payroll at $289.3 million, or $667,278 under the “Cohen Tax.” They would then have to pay $22.5 million in penalties. The addition of starter Max Scherzer, outfielders Sterling Marte and Mark Canha, as well as infielder Eduardo Escobar partly explains this very high payroll.
The New York Yankees have the third-highest payroll at 261.4 million, which would result in a penalty of $7.6 million. The Philadelphia Phillies are fourth, at $223.3 million, for a penalty of $466,000.
The San Diego Padres, the only team to pay a luxury levy last season, started the season some $700,000 from the first tier.
The calculation of the payroll penalty is quite complex and includes the average annual salary of players registered on the roster of 40 players, an amount to which is added a little over $ 16 million in profits per team, the money owed to the players released, buyout clauses, cash transactions and a portion of amounts paid out to players who are not yet eligible for arbitration.
The payroll changes according to staff movements made during the season and the penalty is only really calculated with the final figures, unveiled in December. The team’s offer is taken into account for players who must go through arbitration.
The four penalty levels are this season at 230, 250, 270 and 290 million $. Clubs that continuously exceed the maximum mass offered must pay respectively 30, 42, 75 and 90% more per level crossed. The Dodgers would find themselves in that situation this season.
As soon as a team falls below the first level for a season, it is no longer considered a repeat offender for the calculation of the penalty.
At the start of the season, four teams had total payrolls of less than $100 million: the Oakland Athletics ($64.8 million), the Pittsburgh Pirates ($73.5 million), the Baltimore Orioles ( $79.9 million) and the Cleveland Guardians ($91.2 million).
