The Marlins begin the season with MLB’s third-lowest payroll, and 47 percent is being allocated to a long reliever (Wei Yin Chen) and a platoon first baseman (Martin Prado).
According to USA Today, the Marlins’ opening day payroll of $76.1 million places them ahead of only Tampa Bay ($61.9 million) and Pittsburgh ($74.3 million). The Baltimore Orioles ($80.8 million) and the Oakland Athletics ($91.1 million) round out the bottom five.
In their first eight years at Marlins Park (including this one), the Marlins have fielded teams with lower payrolls than this team’s payroll on four occasions, all under previous owner Jeffrey Loria.