NEW YORK – Major League payrolls fell from $ 4,222 to $ 1,750bn during the previous campaign, shortened by the pandemic. And the Los Angeles Dodgers, who ended up winning the World Series, recorded the highest figure, at $ 98.6 million.
The sum disbursed by the Dodgers was the lowest ever recorded in 20 years for the team with the largest payroll.
Base salaries for 40-player payrolls fell to $ 1.54 billion, according to information sent Friday by the Major Leagues to the teams and obtained by The Associated Press. The number dropped from $ 3.99 billion paid in 2019.
The prorated portions of the bonds to sign contracts totaled $ 120.6 million, a slight decrease from the previous figure of $ 122.8 million. The well-deserved bonds fell from $ 26.9 to $ 25 million.
Meanwhile, termination payments for renewal alternatives not exercised in contracts during 2021 totaled $ 58.2 million. It is more than double the $ 26.9 million observed for options not exercised in 2020, which was evidence of cost cuts amid lost revenue for clubs.
The Dodgers won the World Series for the first time since 1988. They were the team with the highest payroll, something that hadn’t happened since 2017, when they topped that category for the fourth year in a row.
The total for the team with the highest payroll had not been so poor since 2000, when the New York Yankees paid a total of $ 95.3 million.
The Yankees this time recorded a payroll of $ 83.6 million and were second in this criterion for the second consecutive season.
In the same city, the New York Mets were third, with $ 83.4 million last season under the orders of the Wilpon and Katz families as club owners. In the 2019 campaign, the Mets had ranked twelfth among payrolls.
This third place was the team’s highest since 2009, when it was second The Mets were acquired last month by fund manager Steven Cohen, who is looking to raise payroll for next year.
Houston Astres was fourth with $ 81.4 million, rising from eighth place. He was followed by the Chicago Cubs, who dropped out of third place and disbursed $ 80.6 million.
The San Diego Padres ranked sixth, with $ 76.3 million, followed by the Washington Nationals, with $ 76.2 million; Texas Rangers, with $ 75.2, and Los Angeles Angels, with $ 69.9.