NEW YORK — Major League Baseball’s average salary broke the $5 million mark on Opening Day for the first time, according to a study by The Associated Press.
The New York Mets, with Juan Soto’s record $61.9 million pay, led MLB for the third straight Opening Day with a $322.6 million payroll, just ahead of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at $319.5 million. Those two teams each spent roughly five times as much as the Miami Marlins, who at $64.9 million ended the Athletics’ three-year streak as the lowest spender.
Still, the Mets were down from their record high of $355.4 million in 2023.
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The average salary rose 3.6% to $5,160,245. That was up from a 1.5% increase last year but down from an 11.1% increase in 2023.
Adding Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, the Dodgers boosted payroll by a big league-high $69 million from Opening Day last year. Baltimore hiked spending by $66 million, followed by Arizona ($55 million), San Diego ($47 million), Philadelphia ($41 million) and Detroit ($39 million).
Los Angeles’ payroll figure was held down by deferred payments. Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million salary was discounted to a present-day value of $28.2 million because it won’t be paid in full until 2035, causing him to be listed as the 18th-highest-paid player. Other Dodgers with deferred payments include Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, Scott, Will Smith and Snell.
Following their record 121-loss season, the Chicago White Sox cut payroll by $60.8 million, San Francisco by $39.1 million, Miami by $31.7 million and St. Louis by $31.6 million. The American League champion Yankees dropped by $18.5 million.
Just five teams were under $100 million, with the Marlins joined by the A’s ($74.9 million), Tampa Bay ($79.2 million), the White Sox ($80.9 million) and Pittsburgh ($87.9 million).
Soto broke the previous high of $43.3 million shared by pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander under deals they agreed to with the Mets.
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is second at $42 million, followed by Texas pitcher Jacob deGrom and Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge at $40 million each.
Of 953 players in the major leagues on Opening Day, 526 had salaries of $1 million or more, 55%, and down from 532 last year and 546 in 2023.
There were 15 players at $30 million or more, a drop of two; 66 at $20 million, up from 66; and 177 at $10 million, an increase from 166.
A total of 35 players made the $760,000 minimum.
The top 50 players make 29% of the salaries, the same as in the prior two years, and the top 100 earn 48%, up from 47%.
Baseball’s median salary, the point at which an equal number of players are above and below, dropped to $1.35 million from $1.5 million and well below the record high of $1.65 million at the start of 2015.
Average and median salaries decline over the course of the season as veterans are released and replaced by younger players making closer to the minimum. The AP’s average was $4.98 million at the start of last season; MLB calculated the final average at $4.59 million and the players’ association at $4.66 million.
Because they started the season in the minor leagues, Baltimore pitcher Kyle Gibson ($5.25 million), Detroit pitcher Jason Foley ($3.15 million) and Dodgers second baseman Hyeseong Kim ($2.8 million) were among the players not included in the Opening Day payroll figures.
The AP’s figures include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income.
Payroll figures factor in adjustments for cash transactions in trades, signing bonuses that are the responsibility of the club agreeing to the contract, option buyouts and termination pay for released players.
