Baseball’s opening-day payrolls will exceed $3 billion for the first time this season, jumping more than 7 percent from last season according to a Yahoo! Sports analysis in an outstanding report from Jeff Passan.
Passan writes:
Using Baseball Prospectus’ contract database, arbitration projections from MLB Trade Rumors and expected salaries for the remaining free agents likely to garner major-league contracts, Y! Sports estimates opening-day payrolls of teams’ 25-man rosters will total about $3.15 billion, a 7.1-percent increase from last year’s opening-day figure of $2.94 billion.
Last season, the final payrolls totaled $3.148 billion, nearly $208 million more than opening day. By the end of 2013, that figure is expected to be closer to $3.35 billion.
| Team | ’13 payroll estimate | ’12 opening day payroll |
% change |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | $89,000,000 | $74,284,833 | 19.81 |
| Atlanta Braves | $85,000,000 | $83,309,942 | 2.03 |
| Baltimore Orioles | $92,000,000 | $81,428,999 | 12.98 |
| Boston Red Sox | $150,000,000 | $173,186,617 | -13.39 |
| Chicago Cubs | $103,000,000 | $88,197,033 | 16.78 |
| Chicago White Sox | $117,000,000 | $96,919,500 | 20.72 |
| Cincinnati Reds | $107,000,000 | $82,203,616 | 30.16 |
| Cleveland Indians | $71,000,000 | $78,430,300 | -9.47 |
| Colorado Rockies | $73,000,000 | $78,069,571 | -6.49 |
| Detroit Tigers | $150,000,000 | $132,300,000 | 13.38 |
| Houston Astros | $32,000,000 | $60,651,000 | -47.24 |
| Kansas City Royals | $78,000,000 | $60,916,225 | 28.04 |
| Los Angeles Angels | $152,000,000 | $154,485,166 | -1.61 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | $213,000,000 | $95,143,575 | 123.87 |
| Miami Marlins | $45,000,000 | $118,078,000 | -61.89 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | $72,000,000 | $97,653,944 | -26.27 |
| Minnesota Twins | $80,000,000 | $94,085,000 | -14.97 |
| New York Mets | $84,000,000 | $93,353,983 | -10.02 |
| New York Yankees | $210,000,000 | $197,962,289 | 6.08 |
| Oakland A’s | $60,000,000 | $55,372,500 | 8.36 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | $158,000,000 | $174,538,938 | -9.48 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | $55,000,000 | $63,431,999 | -13.29 |
| San Diego Padres | $65,000,000 | $55,244,700 | 17.66 |
| San Francisco Giants | $137,000,000 | $117,620,683 | 16.48 |
| Seattle Mariners | $71,000,000 | $81,978,100 | -13.39 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | $115,000,000 | $110,300,862 | 4.26 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | $60,000,000 | $64,173,500 | -6.50 |
| Texas Rangers | $120,000,000 | $120,510,974 | -0.42 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | $115,000,000 | $75,489,200 | 52.34 |
| Washington Nationals | $113,000,000 | $81,336,143 | 38.93 |
| Totals: | $3,072,000,000 | $2,940,657,192 |
