Dodgers Dethrone Yankees Of Their Payroll Title

For the first time since 2003, the year Major League Baseball first enforced the current luxury tax, the Yankees will not be mailing the largest check to the commissioner’s office. The Los Angeles Dodgers have taken the crown in that regard, and according to The Associated Press, owe more than $26.6 million in luxury tax.

For 15 consecutive years the Yanks led the MLB in payroll, but the Dodgers went out and set new records with their 2014 books. Their actual payroll was $257.3 million, and their luxury tax payroll calculated to a whopping $277.7 million. And since this will be the second year in a row that the Dodgers went over the $189 million payroll threshold, they’re forced to pay the tax at a 30 percent rate. That brings the amount owed to Major League Baseball to $26.6 million.

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If they continue to cross that $189 million line in the sand, their tax rate would boost up to 40 percent in 2015. That wouldn’t be too far from where the Yankees stand, as they pay at a 50 percent rate every year because, well, they go over $189 million every year. Luckily for them, that’s as far as the league’s collective bargaining agreement takes it.

But as Yankees fans, we never really flinch when it comes to astronomical payrolls. All we care about is whether or not that money is going to bring us a World Series title. A perfect example would be the 2009 Yankees infield. There was an absurd amount of money tied up in those four players, but it certainly paid off that year.

Unfortunately for the two biggest spenders in baseball, it’s hard to ignore the results of their past two seasons; especially the Yankees. The Dodgers were actually only two wins away from a National League pennant in 2013, but then were quickly eliminated in the NLDS in 2014. And as we all know, the Yanks didn’t even get to play in October these past two seasons.

In fact, three of the top five largest payroll clubs missed the playoffs this past year: the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies. While on the flip-side you had teams in the lower tier of budgets like the Pirates making the postseason and obviously the Royals making it all the way to the World Series with the 12th lowest payroll in the majors.

What should we take away from that? Are the Yankees and Dodgers doing it all wrong? Should Brian Cashman take notes from Billy Beane and be a frugal general manager?

Absolutely not. One of the great things about Major League Baseball is that there’s no salary cap. If you have the money, spend it. And big-market clubs like the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox bring in a ton of revenue, so they should take advantage of their situation and always be going for it.

That’s why I loved George Steinbrenner. Sure, he was a businessman, but he was also a tremendous competitor. He could’ve just as easily taken those large profits every year and stuffed them all right into his pockets. But that wasn’t George. He put that money right back out onto the field because he wanted to win, and we’re all extremely lucky to have had an owner like him. Owners like George make the offseason fun and give you hope every spring.