MLB Payroll History since 1988-

MLB Payroll by Year

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Year	total payroll	league min	avg salary	player count	team count	top salary	highest payroll	lowest payroll
2025	5,075,316,630	800,000	5,200,000	967	30	Juan Soto	Los Angeles Dodgers ($331,013,580)	Miami Marlins ($68,004,097)
2024	4,906,571,671	740,000	4,888,833	1520	30	Shohei Ohtani	New York Mets ($307,792,124)	Oakland Athletics ($61,945,000)
2023	4,451,414,228	720,000	4,644,046	1210	30	Max Scherzer	New York Mets ($334,233,332)	Oakland Athletics ($43,145,000)
2022	4,200,988,230	700,000	4,317,736	1261	30	Max Scherzer	Los Angeles Dodgers ($285,508,333)	Oakland Athletics ($32,548,334)
2021	3,825,147,026	570,500	4,170,000	1540	30	Mike Trout	Los Angeles Dodgers ($241,372,403)	Pittsburgh Pirates ($45,599,000)
2020	3,735,758,835	563,500	4,724,815	1355	30	Mike Trout	New York Yankees ($214,291,339)	Pittsburgh Pirates ($42,119,000)
2019	4,007,869,480	555,000	4,509,524	1447	30	Max Scherzer	Boston Red Sox ($222,171,123)	Tampa Bay Rays ($60,444,931)
2018	4,141,041,635	545,000	4,095,686	1384	30	Mike Trout	Boston Red Sox ($235,649,368)	Oakland Athletics ($68,534,631)
2017	3,878,284,045	535,000	4,097,122	1363	30	Clayton Kershaw	Los Angeles Dodgers ($187,989,811)	San Diego Padres ($34,574,400)
2016	3,937,842,897	507,500	3,966,020	1358	30	Clayton Kershaw	Los Angeles Dodgers ($253,639,162)	Milwaukee Brewers ($62,964,319)
2015	3,658,284,542	507,500	3,952,252	1358	30	Clayton Kershaw	Los Angeles Dodgers ($230,352,402)	Arizona Diamondbacks ($65,770,333)
2014	3,453,960,397	500,000	3,818,923	1324	30	Zack Greinke	Los Angeles Dodgers ($235,295,219)	Houston Astros ($44,544,174)
2013	3,187,568,088	490,000	3,386,212	1313	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($228,995,945)	Houston Astros ($24,328,538)
2012	2,940,657,192	480,000	3,213,479	1291	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($197,962,289)	San Diego Padres ($55,244,700)
2011	2,786,161,291	414,000	3,095,183	1306	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($202,689,028)	Kansas City Royals ($36,126,000)
2010	2,730,601,685	400,000	3,014,572	1256	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($206,333,389)	Pittsburgh Pirates ($34,943,000)
2009	2,655,395,194	400,000	2,996,106	1271	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($201,449,189)	Florida Marlins ($36,834,000)
2008	2,686,433,458	390,000	2,925,679	1298	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($209,081,577)	Florida Marlins ($21,811,500)
2007	2,476,688,987	380,000	2,824,751	1279	30	Jason Giambi	New York Yankees ($189,259,045)	Tampa Bay Rays ($24,123,500)
2006	2,326,706,685	327,000	2,699,292	1243	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($194,663,079)	Florida Marlins ($14,998,500)
Year	total payroll	league min	avg salary	player count	team count	top salary	highest payroll	lowest payroll
2005	2,191,886,898	316,000	2,476,589	1236	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($208,306,817)	Tampa Bay Rays ($29,679,067)
2004	2,071,265,943	300,000	2,313,535	1245	30	Manny Ramirez	New York Yankees ($184,193,950)	Milwaukee Brewers ($27,528,500)
2003	2,127,863,461	300,000	2,372,189	1229	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($152,749,814)	Tampa Bay Rays ($19,630,000)
2002	2,024,680,522	200,000	2,295,649	1219	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($125,928,583)	Tampa Bay Rays ($34,380,000)
2001	1,962,841,814	200,000	2,138,896	1218	30	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees ($112,287,143)	Minnesota Twins ($24,130,000)
2000	1,686,271,795	200,000	1,895,630	1230	30	Kevin Brown	New York Yankees ($92,938,260)	Minnesota Twins ($15,654,500)
1999	1,445,119,433	200,000	1,611,166	1207	30	Albert Belle	New York Yankees ($88,130,709)	Florida Marlins ($15,150,000)
1998	1,210,532,333	170,000	1,398,831	1187	30	Gary Sheffield	Baltimore Orioles ($70,408,134)	Montreal Expos ($9,202,000)
1997	1,061,631,360	150,000	1,336,609	1121	28	Albert Belle	New York Yankees ($59,148,877)	Pittsburgh Pirates ($9,071,666)
1996	895,178,844	122,667	1,119,981	1139	28	Cecil Fielder	New York Yankees ($52,189,370)	Montreal Expos ($15,410,500)
1995	882,082,040	109,000	1,110,766	1132	28	Cecil Fielder	Toronto Blue Jays ($49,791,500)	Montreal Expos ($12,031,000)
1994	884,936,262	109,000	1,168,263	990	28	Bobby Bonilla	New York Yankees ($44,785,334)	San Diego Padres ($13,529,333)
1993	856,648,188	109,000	1,076,089	1104	28	Bobby Bonilla	Toronto Blue Jays ($45,747,666)	Colorado Rockies ($8,829,000)
1992	783,893,948	109,000	1,028,667	1005	26	Bobby Bonilla	New York Mets ($44,352,002)	Cleveland Indians ($8,236,166)
1991	630,008,474	100,000	851,492	1033	26	Darryl Strawberry	Oakland Athletics ($33,632,500)	Houston Astros ($11,546,000)
1990	454,422,925	100,000	597,537	1028	26	Robin Yount	Kansas City Royals ($23,873,745)	Chicago White Sox ($9,496,238)
1989	350,909,782	68,000	497,254	987	26	Orel Hershiser	Los Angeles Dodgers ($21,584,161)	Chicago White Sox ($7,595,561)
1988	294,880,320	62,500	438,729	972	26	Ozzie Smith	New York Yankees ($18,909,152)	Chicago White Sox ($5,906,952)
38 Record(s)

All dollar amounts are US Dollars.
Current season player count may be less than prior seasons due to exclusion of mid-season callups. Will be fixed during off-season.

Current Payrolls

Los Angeles Dodgers ($331,013,580)
New York Mets ($321,594,220)
New York Yankees ($287,547,080)
Philadelphia Phillies ($283,231,784)
Toronto Blue Jays ($243,329,047)
Houston Astros ($218,642,604)
Atlanta Braves ($215,256,393)
Texas Rangers ($214,389,983)
San Diego Padres ($209,332,417)
Boston Red Sox ($197,964,402)
Chicago Cubs ($192,720,128)
Los Angeles Angels ($192,402,601)
Arizona Diamondbacks ($184,159,359)
San Francisco Giants ($169,919,523)
Baltimore Orioles ($164,267,878)
Seattle Mariners ($147,901,560)
Minnesota Twins ($145,863,554)
Detroit Tigers ($143,669,965)
St. Louis Cardinals ($135,860,188)
Kansas City Royals ($126,410,770)
Colorado Rockies ($121,474,126)
Cincinnati Reds ($116,673,117)
Washington Nationals ($113,027,012)
Milwaukee Brewers ($110,839,368)
Cleveland Guardians ($99,590,961)
Tampa Bay Rays ($88,729,437)
Pittsburgh Pirates ($83,761,012)
Athletics ($74,036,474)
Chicago White Sox ($73,703,990)
Miami Marlins ($68,004,097)