JUST IN: los angeles dodgers set to resign former key player on a 4 years contract worth $142m.

JUST IN: los angeles dodgers set to resign former key player on a 4 years contract worth $142m.

 Los Angeles Angels
2023 Payroll: $230 million
2024 Payroll: $174 million
Payroll Drop: -24.4%
The Angels are another one of the teams impacted by the ongoing bankruptcy issues with Diamond Sports. Some of this drop in payroll is also tied to the loss of Shohei Ohtani, who made $30 million last season in his final year of arbitration eligibility. Last season was a one-year payroll jump for the Angels in an attempt to get to the playoffs before Ohtani left for free agency. The club has hovered between $179-$182 million in payroll since the 2020 season. Los Angeles also caused a stir last season when they placed five players on waivers less than a month after trading for many of them at the deadline. It was an attempt by the front office to drop the team’s payroll under the luxury tax threshold, which they were able to do by $30,000.

San Diego Padres
2023 Payroll: $256 million
2024 Payroll: $160 million
Payroll Drop: -37.5%
The Padres have been interesting to follow of late, because their market is smaller than Minnesota, but they have outspent the Twins. San Diego was forced to trade Juan Soto this winter to clear his $31.5-million salary, an arbitration record, from their bloated books. They still have four players with an average annual contract value of over $20 million (Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Joe Musgrove). On the television side, the team was in the middle of a 20-year, $1.2-billion contract before being dropped by Diamond Sports in the middle of last season. Fans in the Padres viewing area can sign up for a television deal similar to the Rockies’ through MLB’s streaming platform.

Much has been written about the Minnesota Twins and their payroll situation this winter. However, they were hardly the only club looking to cut costs due to the evaporating regional television markets (or at least, with that circumstance as cover for applying downward pressure on player salaries). Opening Day is at the end of March, and some of the top free agents remain unsigned because teams cut back on their spending for 2024. The Twins were one of the teams who trimmed their payroll for the upcoming season, but where do they rank in the top five?

Honorable Mentions: Milwaukee Brewers (-12%), Detroit Tigers (-9.1%), and New York Mets (-7.9%)

5. Texas Rangers
2023 Payroll: $251 million
2024 Payroll: $220 million
Payroll Drop: -12.4%
The Rangers won the franchise’s first World Series last year. That meant a big bump in revenue from their long playoff run and renewed interest in the team, leading to more season ticket sales. However, this winter, the Rangers’ television deal affected the club’s free-agent spending. Initially, Texas had a deal with Diamond Sports to pay them $111 million annually, but they are expected to receive somewhere between $90-100 million for the upcoming season. Like the Twins, they don’t know where their home will be after the 2024 season, and that uncertainty has caused the team to be more cautious this winter.

4. Colorado Rockies
2023 Payroll: $171 million
2024 Payroll: $145 million
Payroll Drop: -15.3%
Colorado was one of the teams dropped by Diamond Sports in the middle of last season, causing MLB to shift television plans on the fly. For 2024, fans living in the club’s home television territory can purchase a package to watch all Rockies games in-market both live and on-demand. The package costs $99.99 for the season or $19.99 per month. The Rockies are one of baseball’s worst-run organizations, so their spending likely won’t impact their finish in the NL West.

3. Minnesota Twins
2023 Payroll: $156 million
2024 Payroll: $128 million
Payroll Drop: -17.9%
The Twins’ payroll situation has been discussed at length from multiple perspectives at Twins Daily. For much of the offseason, it seemed like they would be heading toward a plan similar to the Rockies’, since the team’s deal with Diamond Sports expired after the regular season. Instead, Minnesota agreed to a one-year deal to stay on Bally Sports North. Last season, the Twins made a bit less than $60 million from their television deal. This year, under the new short-term arrangement, they’re expected to make between $40-50 million. (The exact total has not been reported, which says plenty on its own.)

For fans, the entire television and payroll situation has been frustrating on multiple fronts. First, team officials made comments about blackouts being removed, which won’t happen in 2024. Second, the team received an influx of revenue with the new TV deal, but the team didn’t spend any more on the payroll after that unexpected infusion. Twins fans might be frustrated, but fans of the following two teams have even more to complain about.