Major League Baseball has always had a wide gap between the big and small-market teams in terms of spending, and with the way the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to make it rain every offseason, that gap is getting wider and wider by the year.
The Cleveland Guardians found themselves in the final four this past season with the Dodgers, New York Yankees, and New York Mets, who are three of the four highest-salaried teams in the league, yet the Guardians made it that far while spending a fraction of the money.
Spotrac recently shared an updated look at each team’s projected opening day payroll, and the Dodgers had a $70 million gap between them and second place at $374 million.
In comparison, the Guardians have the sixth-lowest payroll at just over $109 million.
Projected Opening Day #MLB Tax Payrolls
1. Dodgers, $374M
2. Phillies, $303M
3. Yankees, $298M
4. Mets, $292M
5. Padres, $243M
…
28. Rays, $86M
29. White Sox, $79M
30. Marlins, $73Mhttps://t.co/KrugQaXSfV— Spotrac (@spotrac) January 19, 2025
Cleveland hasn’t spent heavily this offseason, even though many fans have been clamoring for it since the team was so close to winning the championship this past season.
The Guardians did bring back Shane Bieber on a two-year deal and signed former fan favorite Carlos Santana to a one-year deal to replace Josh Naylor at first base after the team traded him to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Larry and Paul Dolan have a net worth of $4.6 billion and are the sixth-richest owners in baseball, so there is no excuse for this team to choose not to spend year after year.
The offseason is winding down, and it doesn’t look like this team is going to land the big bat it needed in the offseason.
Instead, it will rely on internal improvements from some of the young guys, such as Jhonkensy Noel, and the eventual promotion of No. 1 pick Travis Bazzana to second base.
NEXT: Insider Reveals What Guardians' Goal Was This Offseason
