Mets lead MLB in 2024 payroll for third straight year with $333M; Yankees outspend Dodgers before luxury tax

Major League Baseball does not have a salary cap, but there’s a luxury tax (or competitive balance tax or CBT) with multiple penalty thresholds in an effort to discourage excessive spending. The final payroll figures and their corresponding luxury tax hits from the 2024 season have been released by the commissioner’s office (via Associated Press). 

The total payroll figures are for the 40-man rosters and include buyouts of unexercised options, bonuses, cash considerations sent in trades and any other player compensation. As a reminder, the luxury tax hit for a player salary is the average annual value of his contract. As an example, if a player has a three-year, $30 million deal but is paid $5 million in the first year, $10 million in the second year and $15 million in the third year, the hit is still just $10 million all three years.

The Mets lead the list for the third straight year at just over $333 million, up from their own 2023 record of $319.5 million. Behind them are the Yankees ($310 million), World Series champion Dodgers ($271 million) and Phillies ($249 million). The biggest jump in payroll goes to the Diamondbacks, who raised their figures by $48 million between 2023 and 2024. The Padres, on the other hand, slashed payroll by $85 million.

The Oakland Athletics clocked in at No. 30 with a payroll of just over $66 million, less than Mets owner Steve Cohen will pay in luxury tax.

Here are the 30 payrolls from the 2024 season along with how much the teams exceeding the CBT threshold paid in taxes. Keep in mind there are extra, carry-over penalties for exceeding the tax in consecutive seasons, which is why the team with the third-highest payroll paid the most in tax and some of the rest of that column doesn’t seem to line up for this particular season.