NEW YORK
The Los Angeles Dodgers remain baseball’s biggest spender, but their opening-day payroll of around $230 million will be a drop of $40 million from the record they set last year. And the total could climb, with Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda alone able to earn $10.15 million in roster and performance bonuses.
The New York Yankees, who topped the majors in spending for 15 straight seasons before the Dodgers leapfrogged them a year ago, raised their opening payroll by $5 million to about $223 million.
Based on rosters as of Thursday, the average salary will rise about 4-6 percent to approximately $4.