Inside the Numbers: MLB Opening Day Player Payroll for '09

Heading into the 2009 season, the total amount spent on Opening Day player payroll in Major League Baseball declined 1.56 percent from last season marking the first decline in team spending since 2004 when the league saw clubs spend 2.69 percent less on player payroll than 2003. Total league Opening Day player payroll for this year is $2,655,395,194 compared to $2,697,392,597 last year. While the recession may be what many will point to, the decline might will be described as an adjustment. League spending on Opening Day had been increasing steadily from 6.27 percent from ’04 to ’05, 6.46 percent from ’05 to ’06, and 7.19 percent from ’06 to ’07. But last year, owners dug deeper into their wallets and increased spending 8.15 percent from the year prior, so the decline in spending from 2008 to 2009 marks a correction. When looking at league spending on Opening Day player payroll from 2007 to 2009 the amount of increase is 6.6 percent, a more reasonable escalation when looking at sp...