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The opening day payroll of teams in the MLB is calculated by combining the base salary, incentives, and any signing bonuses. At the beginning of the 2026 season, the New York Mets had the highest combined payroll in the league, amounting to around 352.22 million U.S. dollars. At the other end of the scale, the Cleveland Guardians had an opening day payroll of just over 60 million U.S. dollars.

Pitchers take home the money

The MLB has a minimum player salary in place to ensure that its professionals are rewarded for the work that they do. In 2026, the minimum salary for an MLB player was 780,000 U.S. dollars per year, a significant increase from the minimum of 507,500 U.S. dollars ten years earlier. However, the average player salary in the league in 2026 stood at 5.34 million U.S. dollars, around seven times the value of the minimum salary. This figure is skewed by the fact that the top earners in baseball take home significant amounts of money. Typically, it is the pitchers within a baseball team that earn the biggest wages due to their integral role.

MLB Luxury Tax

In order to avoid such wealth disparity amongst the teams, Major League Baseball implements a luxury tax (or competitive balance tax). This tax is paid by any teams whose annual payroll exceeds the league limit,which stood at 244 million U.S. dollars in 2026.