New York Mets have top payroll; record six teams set to pay luxury tax

NEW YORK — The Mets are on track to have baseball's highest payroll for the first time since 1989, among a record-tying six teams set to pay a penalty for spending.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who started the season as the top spender, fell into second due to Trevor Bauer's suspension.

New York entered the last full month of the season with a $273.9 million payroll, according to updated figures through Aug. 31 complied by Major League Baseball. The Dodgers are second at $267.2 million, followed by the New York Yankees at $254.4 million.

The Mets hope to win their first World Series title since 1986.

«I have expectations of the Mets being the last team standing. What else is there? I mean, that's why we get up in the morning every day,» Mets manager Buck Showalter said Sunday. «It's kind of cold. It's kind of cruel, but I'd rather know it up front what the endgame's supposed to be. Some people go through their whole life not knowing exactly what success is supposed to be. Nobody's got to in here tell me how we're doing. There is a scoreboard and standings. It's right there. You don't like it, play better.»

Mets pitcher Max Scherzer, at a big-league-high $43.3 million, makes roughly $5 million less than Oakland's entire team and combines with teammates Jacob deGrom and Francisco Lindor for about $103 million — more than eight of the 30 clubs.

When the Mets last topped MLB in payroll, their total was $21.3 million.

The Dodgers' payroll dropped when Bauer was suspended for two years without pay on April 29 for violating the sport's domestic violence policy. Bauer's 2022 salary was $32 million but was reduced to what he was owed at the time of the suspension: $3.8 million. He is challenging the discipline before an arbitrator.

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