NEW YORK – Major League Baseball’s average salary increased 3.4% on Opening Day to a record $5.34 million, according to a study by The Associated Press. New York Mets Topped in spending at the start of the season for the fourth consecutive year.
meets the outfielder juan soto Is the highest-paid player for the second consecutive season with $61.9 million and is second only to New York Yankees outfielder cody bellinger At $42.5 million.
philadelphia pitcher jack wheeler and meets the third baseman bo bichet Ranked third with $42 million. toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.. Was fifth with $40.2 million, slightly ahead of Yankees outfielder aaron judge At $40 million.
The Mets’ payroll of $352.2 million was just short of the record $355.4 million set in 2023 and up from $322.6 million last year. The Mets’ total is more than five times that of Cleveland, the lowest-spending team, with $62.3 million.
Two-time defending World Series champion los angeles dodgers were second with $316.6 million, down from $319.5 million the previous year. If the deals of the nine players with deferred money had not been discounted to current value, the Dodgers’ total money would have been $395.2 million. The Mets have only signed deals with three players with deferred money, and their total would be $360 million without waivers.
MLB’s average salary of $5,335,966 has increased from $5,160,245 at the start of last season and is up 28% under the five-year collective bargaining agreement that expired in December, an average of 5.6% annually.
The top five spenders were unchanged from last year, with the Yankees in third ($297.2 million), followed by Philadelphia ($282 million) and Toronto ($269 million).
Six clubs had payrolls of $250 million, more than four; And 10 teams had salaries worth $200 million, more than nine.
Eight teams were under $100 million, five were above.
Detroit had the biggest increase after signing a pitcher, from $64.2 million to $206.7 million. framber valdezre-sign Gleyber Torres With a worthy offer and giving a big raise to the ace tariq skubal Through mediation. Atlanta grew by $44.1 million, and chicago cubsToronto and the Mets at just under $30 million.
Minnesota reduced payroll by $46.3 million from Opening Day last year, to $96.5 million.
St. Louis reduced its Opening Day payroll from $141.5 million to $100.4 million. The Cardinals’ spending spree includes $44 million it is getting rid of, paying Arizona and Boston as part of the trade nolan arenado, sonny gray And wilson contrerasAlso a little less than $3.4 million to Arenado as the present value of the $6 million assignment bonus, which was the money originally owed in his contract and is owed by the Cardinals in 2040 and ’41.
Other teams with big cuts include the Guardians ($40.2 million), Texas ($37.3 million) and Washington ($23.3 million).
The payroll includes 942 players from the Opening Day roster and the injured list. That doesn’t include restricted list players like Cleveland pitcher Emmanuel Klaas and Luis Ortiz, Atlanta’s outfielder. jerickson proffer and philadelphia outfielder johan rojas.
They also do not reflect players who began the season assigned to minor league teams, such as the Dodgers’ second baseman Hyesong Kim and toronto pitcher yariel rodriguez.
Baseball’s average salary, the point where the same number of players top and bottom, rose from $1.35 million to $1.4 million and remains below the record high of $1.65 million set in early 2015. The active roster expanded to 26 players in 2021.
Average and median salaries decline over the course of a season as veterans are fired and replaced with younger players closer to the minimum. MLB calculated the final average for 2025 at $4.61 million and the players’ union at $4.72 million.
There were 519 players earning $1 million or more, a rate of 55%, which was the same as the previous year.
Nineteen players earned $30 million or more, an increase of four; 66 were up from 74 at $20 million; and down from 177 to 168 at $10 million.
Thirty-one players earned a minimum of $780,000.
The top 50 players earn 30% of salaries, up from 29% the previous two years, and the top 100 players earn 49%, up from 48% last year.
The AP figures include salary and proportional shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income. Payroll figures factor in adjustments for cash transactions in trades, signing bonuses which are the responsibility of the club that agreed to the contract, option buyouts and termination payments for released players.
MLB’s payroll is based on a 40-man roster and fluctuates each day based on roster movements.
