Money Matters

Written By Bryce Lynds

It’s strange that people have personally contacted me and said that money doesn’t matter in the MLB, especially after the Dodgers deferred a $700,000,000 contract. While it’s true that their total adjusted payroll is $241,000,000, the total cap is $355,000,000. Money in this league matters—it’s essential to retain your talent and sign free agents. And the reason I’m bringing this up in the first place is because of A’s owner John Fisher.

The A’s, throughout the 2010s and even as recently as 2021, have had some of the most talented rosters in baseball. From the 2012-2014 teams with Josh Donaldson, Yoenis Cespedes, Brandon Moss, and Coco Crisp, to the 2018-2021 A’s with Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Marcus Semien, Ramón Laureano—the list goes on. But the A’s didn’t retain any of them.

All true MLB contenders are in the top 10 in payroll. Don’t believe me? Look at the top 6:

  1. Mets: $317,000,000 (Made NLCS)

  2. Yankees: $309,000,000 (In World Series as this is being written)

  3. Houston: $255,000,000 (Made WC round, was WS favorite for a long time)

  4. Philadelphia: $247,000,000 (Made NLDS, #2 seed)

  5. Los Angeles Dodgers: $241,000,000 (Up 2-0 in WS over Yankees)

  6. Atlanta: $236,000,000 (Made NLDS)

Notice a pattern? All of the top contenders have spent money to obtain the best talent in the sport, and they are all reaping the benefits of their spending. Now compare those numbers to the A’s payroll for the 2024 season: $65,000,000. In terms of active payroll, it’s only $28,000,000. To put that into perspective, the Yankees currently have a $260,000,000 active payroll—almost ten times what the A’s have.

This is an owner who wondered why fans weren’t interested in Oakland. It’s because he was never interested in putting out the best possible product on the field—it would have cost him too much money. It’s a shame that the MLB is going to bail this guy out and give him free rent in Sacramento (thanks, Vivek Ranadivé), while also waiving the relocation fee. Vegas is giving the A’s free land on the Strip, which is worth hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. This is the biggest gift in sports history, considering it was reported that the A’s and the city of Oakland were just $82,000,000 away from making a deal—less than half of the Yankees’ yearly payroll.

Once again, I say to everyone, money and spending it in the MLB matters.

Bryce Lynds