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The New York Mets are actually spending more money on their current roster than the Los Angeles Dodgers are on theirs, new calculations by MLB reveal.
USA TODAY Sports obtained internal calculations from MLB's Labor Relations Department, showing that the net present value and luxury tax calculations of the two team rosters are wildly different from the official Opening Day payroll amounts. The Dodgers are officially listed as paying $200,000 more in salary than the Mets this season, with their $321.3M Opening Day payroll just barely exceeding New York's $323.1M.
But in MLB's calculations, the heavy influence of deferred money in Los Angeles' deals, along with the relative lack of deferrals in New York's contracts, push both the actual present value and luxury tax calculations for the two teams in different directions.
MLB payrolls 2025: Mets higher than Dodgers in present-day value https://t.co/1BBC6meDd9
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 2, 2025
New York is paying 'full price' for star outfielder Juan Soto, who they signed this offseason as a free agent to a record 15-year, $765 million contract this winter. His salary calculation by MLB for this season comes in at $61.875M, far and away the largest annual salary in baseball. Pitcher Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies comes in a distant second place at $42M.
By comparison, three-time unanimous MVP Shohei Ohtani is a relative bargain for the Dodgers. Given the heavily deferred nature of his contract, one in which $68 million of his $70 million annual salary is deferred for every one of the ten years of the deal, his MLB salary calculation places him in 18th place for highest-paid players in baseball at just $28.2 million of cash obligations this season.
Deferred money:
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) December 9, 2024
Shohei Ohtani ---> $680,000,000
Juan Soto --------> $0 pic.twitter.com/cgrdYai0Z3
Ohtani's deferred money is so significant that it pushes him down to only the 2nd-most expensive Dodger this season; teammate Tyler Glasnow, who signed a five-year extension with the club after being acquired via trade in December 2023, is valued at $30 million in salary for 2025. Glasnow's salary calculation comes in as the 14th-largest for this season, per the league's calculations.
Ohtani is not the only player on his own team to have deferred money, but none of his teammates reach the extremes of his deferred money. Offseason rotation signee Blake Snell has $66 million of his $182 million deal deferred, while re-signed outfielder Teoscar Hernandez is deferring $23 million of his new three-year, $66 million deal he signed this offseason to return to the team. Existing veterans Mookie Betts ($115 million) and Freddie Freeman ($57 million), both of whom signed prior to Ohtani joining the team for the 2024 season, agreed to significant deferrals in their current deals as well.
Nonetheless, the Mets have some active players with deferred money in their deals (not counting Bobby Bonilla and Bret Saberhagen). Shortstop Francisco Lindor is set to receive $50 million in deferrals from 2032 to 2041 ($5M per year), while closer Edwin Diaz will earn $26.5 million from 2033 to 2042 ($2.65M per year). Starting pitcher Sean Manaea, who signed a three-year, $75 million contract this offseason to remain a Met, is deferring $23.25 million and will earn $2,325,000 each year from 2035 to 2044.
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