Payroll Spread

So how to dig into this?  There are a few ways - opening day payrolls by team are available at The Baseball Cube with data going back to 1988.  For 2026 I used Spotrac. Top salaries going back to 1985.  Lets see what that tells us.  I mixed it with data from a few other sources to expand back to 1977 when the Jays first existed.  Minimum Salary: baseball-almanac.com and Top Salary: sabr.org  Took a bit of hunting to find stuff, but it is mostly out there.  The SABR site went back to 1874 ($2,800 for Fergy Malone).

Note: These figures are based on raw payroll (what a player costs them this year) not what they use for the CBT (tax). The CBT figure is over $20 mil higher for the Dodgers. Jays raw figure is $275,503,793 for 2026 btw. No guarantee figures are dead on as teams hide as much as they can.

Year	Total Payroll	Minimum	Average	Top Player Salary	Top Salary	Highest Payroll	High $	Lowest Payroll	Low $	Top Salary vs Min	Top Team vs Min
2026	5,213,793,434	780,000	6,684,351	Kyle Tucker	$55,000,000	Los Angeles Dodgers	$375,665,747	Miami Marlins	$52,180,000	70.5	7.2
2025	5,075,316,630	760,000	5,200,000	Juan Soto	$51,875,000	Los Angeles Dodgers	$331,013,580	Miami Marlins	$68,004,097	68.3	4.9
2024	4,906,571,671	740,000	4,888,833	Max Scherzer	$43,333,333	New York Mets	$307,792,124	Oakland Athletics	$61,945,000	58.6	5.0
2023	4,451,414,228	720,000	4,644,046	Max Scherzer	$43,333,333	New York Mets	$334,233,332	Oakland Athletics	$43,145,000	60.2	7.7
2022	4,200,988,230	700,000	4,317,736	Max Scherzer	$43,333,333	Los Angeles Dodgers	$285,508,333	Oakland Athletics	$32,548,334	61.9	8.8
2021	3,825,147,026	570,500	4,170,000	Mike Trout	$37,116,667	Los Angeles Dodgers	$241,372,403	Pittsburgh Pirates	$45,599,000	65.1	5.3
2020	3,735,758,835	563,500	4,724,815	Mike Trout	$36,000,000	New York Yankees	$214,291,339	Pittsburgh Pirates	$42,119,000	63.9	5.1
2019	4,007,869,480	555,000	4,509,524	Max Scherzer	$42,142,857	Boston Red Sox	$222,171,123	Tampa Bay Rays	$60,444,931	75.9	3.7
2018	4,141,041,635	545,000	4,095,686	Mike Trout	$33,250,000	Boston Red Sox	$235,649,368	Oakland Athletics	$68,534,631	61.0	3.4
2017	3,878,284,045	535,000	4,097,122	Clayton Kershaw	$33,000,000	Los Angeles Dodgers	$187,989,811	San Diego Padres	$34,574,400	61.7	5.4
2016	3,937,842,897	507,500	3,966,020	Clayton Kershaw	$32,000,000	Los Angeles Dodgers	$253,639,162	Milwaukee Brewers	$62,964,319	63.1	4.0
2015	3,658,284,542	507,500	3,952,252	Clayton Kershaw	$31,000,000	Los Angeles Dodgers	$230,352,402	Arizona Diamondbacks	$65,770,333	61.1	3.5
2014	3,453,960,397	500,000	3,818,923	Zack Greinke	$28,000,000	Los Angeles Dodgers	$235,295,219	Houston Astros	$44,544,174	56.0	5.3
2013	3,187,568,088	490,000	3,386,212	Alex Rodriguez	$29,000,000	New York Yankees	$228,995,945	Houston Astros	$24,328,538	59.2	9.4
2012	2,940,657,192	480,000	3,213,479	Alex Rodriguez	$30,000,000	New York Yankees	$197,962,289	San Diego Padres	$55,244,700	62.5	3.6
2011	2,786,161,291	414,000	3,095,183	Alex Rodriguez	$32,000,000	New York Yankees	$202,689,028	Kansas City Royals	$36,126,000	77.3	5.6
2010	2,730,601,685	400,000	3,014,572	Alex Rodriguez	$33,000,000	New York Yankees	$206,333,389	Pittsburgh Pirates	$34,943,000	82.5	5.9
2009	2,655,395,194	400,000	2,996,106	Alex Rodriguez	$33,000,000	New York Yankees	$201,449,189	Florida Marlins	$36,834,000	82.5	5.5
2008	2,686,433,458	390,000	2,925,679	Alex Rodriguez	$28,000,000	New York Yankees	$209,081,577	Florida Marlins	$21,811,500	71.8	9.6
2007	2,476,688,987	380,000	2,824,751	Jason Giambi	$23,428,571	New York Yankees	$189,259,045	Tampa Bay Rays	$24,123,500	61.7	7.8
2006	2,326,706,685	327,000	2,699,292	Alex Rodriguez	$21,680,727	New York Yankees	$194,663,079	Florida Marlins	$14,998,500	66.3	13.0
2005	2,191,886,898	316,000	2,476,589	Alex Rodriguez	$26,000,000	New York Yankees	$208,306,817	Tampa Bay Rays	$29,679,067	82.3	7.0
2004	2,071,265,943	300,000	2,313,535	Manny Ramirez	$22,500,000	New York Yankees	$184,193,950	Milwaukee Brewers	$27,528,500	75.0	6.7
2003	2,127,863,461	300,000	2,372,189	Alex Rodriguez	$22,000,000	New York Yankees	$152,749,814	Tampa Bay Rays	$19,630,000	73.3	7.8
2002	2,024,680,522	200,000	2,295,649	Alex Rodriguez	$22,000,000	New York Yankees	$125,928,583	Tampa Bay Rays	$34,380,000	110.0	3.7
2001	1,962,841,814	200,000	2,138,896	Alex Rodriguez	$22,000,000	New York Yankees	$112,287,143	Minnesota Twins	$24,130,000	110.0	4.7
2000	1,686,271,795	200,000	1,895,630	Kevin Brown	$15,714,286	New York Yankees	$92,938,260	Minnesota Twins	$15,654,500	78.6	5.9
1999	1,445,119,433	200,000	1,611,166	Albert Belle	$11,949,794	New York Yankees	$88,130,709	Florida Marlins	$15,150,000	59.7	5.8
1998	1,210,532,333	170,000	1,398,831	Gary Sheffield	$14,936,667	Baltimore Orioles	$70,408,134	Montreal Expos	$9,202,000	87.9	7.7
1997	1,061,631,360	150,000	1,336,609	Albert Belle	$10,000,000	New York Yankees	$59,148,877	Pittsburgh Pirates	$9,071,666	66.7	6.5
1996	895,178,844	122,667	1,119,981	Cecil Fielder	$9,237,500	New York Yankees	$52,189,370	Montreal Expos	$15,410,500	75.3	3.4
1995	882,082,040	109,000	1,110,766	Cecil Fielder	$9,237,500	Toronto Blue Jays	$49,791,500	Montreal Expos	$12,031,000	84.7	4.1
1994	884,936,262	109,000	1,168,263	Bobby Bonilla	$6,300,000	New York Yankees	$44,785,334	San Diego Padres	$13,529,333	57.8	3.3
1993	856,648,188	109,000	1,076,089	Bobby Bonilla	$6,200,000	Toronto Blue Jays	$45,747,666	Colorado Rockies	$8,829,000	56.9	5.2
1992	783,893,948	109,000	1,028,667	Bobby Bonilla	$6,100,000	New York Mets	$44,352,002	Cleveland Indians	$8,236,166	56.0	5.4
1991	630,008,474	100,000	851,492	Darryl Strawberry	$3,800,000	Oakland Athletics	$33,632,500	Houston Astros	$11,546,000	38.0	2.9
1990	454,422,925	100,000	597,537	Robin Yount	$3,200,000	Kansas City Royals	$23,873,745	Chicago White Sox	$9,496,238	32.0	2.5
1989	350,909,782	68,000	497,254	Orel Hershiser	$2,766,667	Los Angeles Dodgers	$21,584,161	Chicago White Sox	$7,595,561	40.7	2.8
1988	294,880,320	62,500	438,729	Ozzie Smith	$2,340,000	New York Yankees	$18,909,152	Chicago White Sox	$5,906,952	37.4	3.2
1987	268,095,100	62,500	412,454	Mike Schmidt	$2,127,333	Kansas City Royals	$12,498,500	Pittsburgh Pirates	$4,024,500	34.0	3.1
1986	268,138,000	60,000	412,520	George Foster	$2,800,000	Atlanta Braves	$15,243,050	Seattle Mariners	$5,768,100	46.7	2.6
1985	241,521,150	60,000	371,571	Mike Schmidt	$2,130,300	New York Yankees	$13,659,100	Seattle Mariners	$4,242,350	35.5	3.2
1984	214,115,200	40,000	329,408	Mike Schmidt	$1,989,875	New York Yankees	$11,463,600	Cleveland Indians	$3,994,350	49.7	2.9
1983	187,976,100	35,000	289,194	Mike Schmidt	$1,652,333	New York Mets	$11,599,675	Minnesota Twins	$2,449,500	47.2	4.7
1982	156,973,050	33,500	241,497	Mike Schmidt	$1,500,000	California Angels	$10,585,075	Minnesota Twins	$1,683,375	44.8	6.3
1981	120,673,150	32,500	185,651	Dave Winfield	$1,400,000	New York Yankees	$7,746,375	Minnesota Twins	$2,143,400	43.1	3.6
1980	93,441,400	30,000	143,756	Nolan Ryan	$1,000,000	New York Yankees	$6,073,425	Oakland Athletics	$1,374,850	33.3	4.4
1979	73,812,700	21,000	113,558	Rod Carew	$800,000	New York Yankees	$4,980,900	Oakland Athletics	$1,030,500	38.1	4.8
1978	64,919,400	21,000	99,876	Mike Schmidt	$560,000	New York Yankees	$4,722,000	Oakland Athletics	$1,231,450	26.7	3.8
1977	49,442,900	19,000	76,066	Mike Schmidt	$560,000	Philadelphia Phillies	$3,497,900	Toronto Blue Jays	$858,000	29.5	4.1

Interesting to see the biggest payroll spread was just after the Yankees dominance in the World Series - 2006 when they were 3 years away from their final World Series win so far.  The smallest was in 1990, during the Jays time as one of the best in the game (1989-1993 they won the division 4 out of 5 years with 2 World Series titles of course).  That biggest spread was 13 times the minimum.  The Dodgers would need to really up their game to get there - the lowest for 2026 is currently estimated to be $52.2 mil so 13 times that is $678.3 mil vs the just shy of $400 mil they are at - so to match the spread of the Yankees back in 2006 the Dodgers need to spend another $303 million (more than the Jays current payroll).  Tells you how insane the Yankees were in the 00's with their spending vs everyone else - or how cheap the other owners were.

For the spread from richest to poorest player the smallest was 1978 when Mike Schmidt led with just $560k (well below the current minimum) and the minimum was just $21k.  The biggest being in 2001 and 2002 when A-Rod was making $22 mil a year and the minimum was $200k. An insane 110x spread.  A player would need to be making $85.8 million now to match that giant spread. 

So in the 55 years the Jays have existed the top team for spending has been the Yankees. Here is a summary of how teams have ranked in payroll (#1 or dead last).

Team	Top	Bottom
New York Yankees	26	0
Los Angeles Dodgers	9	0
New York Mets	4	0
Boston Red Sox	2	0
Kansas City Royals	2	1
Toronto Blue Jays	2	1
Atlanta Braves	1	0
Baltimore Orioles	1	0
California Angels	1	0
Philadelphia Phillies	1	0
Oakland Athletics	1	7
Arizona Diamondbacks	0	1
Colorado Rockies	0	1
Cleveland Indians	0	2
Miami Marlins	0	2
Milwaukee Brewers	0	2
Seattle Mariners	0	2
Chicago White Sox	0	3
Houston Astros	0	3
Montreal Expos	0	3
San Diego Padres	0	3
Florida Marlins	0	4
Minnesota Twins	0	5
Pittsburgh Pirates	0	5
Tampa Bay Rays	0	5

Note: Washington hasn't been #1 or #30 since moving there from Montreal.

Interesting how a handful of teams have been high spenders and low at some point.  The A's probably surprise younger readers - in the 80's and early 90's they were a high spending team and seen as the best in baseball.  Willing to do what it took to win.  Then they got cheap and lucky and did well in the early 00's - a 7 year stretch of contention (2000-2006) but never winning a game in the ALCS (made it there once, swept by the Tigers).  Then a 5 year drought before 3 more playoffs (never past the ALDS), 3 more off years, 3 more playoffs (same result), now up to 5 years of ick.

Others who did both were KC with 2 leading, 1 trailing (yes, they also were a rich team in the 80's), and the Jays (1977 bottom, no shock as an expansion team, then #1 in 93 and 95 - showing that spending doesn't always work but sometimes it does).

For pure fan abuse hard to beat the Rays (5 dead lasts in 28 years), but the Pirates and Twins tried (also 5 dead lasts without ever leading).  Expos used to be near the top but then were taken over by a scumbag who sucked everything they could out of the team then dumped the carcass onto MLB.

A bit surprising that the Red Sox only led twice in the Jays existence, which is tied with KC and the Jays.  The Mets & Dodgers both trying to take over 'evil empire' status from the Yankees now but have a long way to go and you know MLB will try to set it up so it is near impossible to get a payroll spread like 2006.  Checking average payroll per club vs #1 the biggest spread is 2005 at 2.9 times (NYY $208.3 vs Avg $73.1).  Smallest was 1987 at 1.2 times (KC $12.5 vs Avg $10.3).  This year is projected at 2.2 but is now less with a few recent signings not factored in (Suarez for example). 2023 was worse at 2.3, 2017 was down to 1.5.  It'll be interesting to see how MLB and the players adjust things next winter.  I'm seeing new tax levels on the way.