Baseball owners are once again crying about the financials in their sport. My goodness the prices teams have had to pay to bring in the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto.
The Phillies, Dodgers and Mets have all blown past the $300 million payroll threshold with the Yankees a smidge behind. The Dodgers have of course been the ones receiving scorn for their billion dollars in deferred salaries.
The fact is, nobody that owns a baseball team has a right to complain about the money part of the baseball business, while the expenses go up every year, so does the income, but it’s the team valuations where the money is really at.
From 10 Million to 8 Billion
George Steinbrenner paid a hefty sum back in 1973 when the shipbuilder from Florida purchased the New York Yankees from CBS. It was a $10 million original purchase price which is now worth an estimated $8 billion. More than a half billion than last year at this time.
CNBC’s Official MLB Team Valuations for 2025 show the Los Angeles Dodgers worth now at $5.8 billion while the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs are now worth $4.7 and $4.5 billion respectively.
Makes you wonder why both the Cubs and Red Sox held back on payroll the last few seasons while the two teams are making money hand over fist should they ever decide baseball’s too expensive for them and they sell as the Minnesota Twins are trying to do.
Sources: Pohlads seeking at least $1.7B for Twins, have more than $425M in debt on books. With @DanHayesMLB and @Britt_Ghiroli. https://t.co/8ZuXT5KA41
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 25, 2025
Yankees Drive Everyone
The Pohlad family initially purchased the Minnesota Twins in 1984 for $44 million and it’s now worth over $1.5 billion. Even the stated significant debt will be dwarfed by just how much they’ll pocket from a 1984 buy to a 2025 sale.
Baseball owners can all thank the Yankees just as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can thank Juan Soto for the heightened numbers it took to get Junior to stay in Toronto.
As the Yankees worth grows at the top so does each and every team behind them. So next time you hear an MLB owner belly aching about the game’s economics, don’t fear for their futures, they’re going to be just fine, with or without a salary cap.
