It’s disgraceful that the bottom teams on this list spend such a small percentage of their revenue
October 19, 2025
It’s disgraceful that the bottom teams on this list spend such a small percentage of their revenue
8 comments
I was surprised to see that Milwaukee and Cleveland revenue was only slightly more than ours. They both won their divisions last year. Was hoping there would be more of a “wins up, revenue up” effect in our comp cities.
This is why that stat can be very misleading, the As are 19th on that list yet they have the reputation of having an even cheaper ownership than us. I’m not defending Nutting as I’m already over his cheapness and keeping dumbass Ben. But this talking point feels nitpicked, I know you’re not the only one to bring it up but I don’t think this is relevant to the discussion. The Tigers are 12th on this list and they’re about to lose Skubal, there’s a genuine problem in the sport on both sides. Not just the cheap owners
Just looking at this, there’s no path for teams to compete economically
lol the Dodgers spent more than our Payroll in luxury tax alone. This system is f*cked
No, it’s disgraceful that there is no salary cap, that players are approaching billion dollar contracts, and that some team owners like the Pirates are only interested in net margin regardless of team win performance. It clearly can be done. Plenty of teams on there in the same revenue bracket or revenue/payroll percentage that are contenders.
There will definitely be a lock out after next season. There’s nothing that gets between billionaires like money. With revenue sharing I doubt the other owners like Bob Nutting taking money from them.
FWIW, the NFL’s salary cap is set at about 48% of revenue. So over half of MLB teams would be below a similar cap. And what’s even worse is that the NFL has revenue sharing… so for most teams that would be an INCREASE in revenue, meaning teams like the Pirates and Marlins would be paying about 25% of their revenue.
While it’s a nice way to rile up fans and start conversations, MLB does not publish it’s actual revenues per team, so this is all just pure speculation.
You know how I also know that this list is complete garbage and bullshit?
The fact that there are 9 teams that are reported to be spending more than 50% of their entire operating budget on MLB payroll alone.
That means that they are most likely losing money, considering that they still need to pay for travel expenses (flights, hotels, food, etc), non-player payrolls, like FO staff, managerial/coaching/scouting staff, stadium maintenance costs/fees, minor league salaries, development salaries, draft money, and probably a whole lot more.
Outside of the Mets, who Cohen reportedly was spending his own money, these guys are not in it to lose money and aren’t going to cost themselves to lose money. Even Cohen said he’s no longer going to run a negative.
Unless and until MLB teams post their actual books, these posts are just an exercise in futility.
None of that is to say that Nutting isn’t a horrible owner and should be spending, at the very least, $20-40M more on payroll, just pointing out that the entire premise of that list is utter horse shit.
8 comments
I was surprised to see that Milwaukee and Cleveland revenue was only slightly more than ours. They both won their divisions last year. Was hoping there would be more of a “wins up, revenue up” effect in our comp cities.
This is why that stat can be very misleading, the As are 19th on that list yet they have the reputation of having an even cheaper ownership than us. I’m not defending Nutting as I’m already over his cheapness and keeping dumbass Ben. But this talking point feels nitpicked, I know you’re not the only one to bring it up but I don’t think this is relevant to the discussion. The Tigers are 12th on this list and they’re about to lose Skubal, there’s a genuine problem in the sport on both sides. Not just the cheap owners
Just looking at this, there’s no path for teams to compete economically
lol the Dodgers spent more than our Payroll in luxury tax alone. This system is f*cked
No, it’s disgraceful that there is no salary cap, that players are approaching billion dollar contracts, and that some team owners like the Pirates are only interested in net margin regardless of team win performance. It clearly can be done. Plenty of teams on there in the same revenue bracket or revenue/payroll percentage that are contenders.
There will definitely be a lock out after next season. There’s nothing that gets between billionaires like money. With revenue sharing I doubt the other owners like Bob Nutting taking money from them.
FWIW, the NFL’s salary cap is set at about 48% of revenue. So over half of MLB teams would be below a similar cap. And what’s even worse is that the NFL has revenue sharing… so for most teams that would be an INCREASE in revenue, meaning teams like the Pirates and Marlins would be paying about 25% of their revenue.
While it’s a nice way to rile up fans and start conversations, MLB does not publish it’s actual revenues per team, so this is all just pure speculation.
You know how I also know that this list is complete garbage and bullshit?
The fact that there are 9 teams that are reported to be spending more than 50% of their entire operating budget on MLB payroll alone.
That means that they are most likely losing money, considering that they still need to pay for travel expenses (flights, hotels, food, etc), non-player payrolls, like FO staff, managerial/coaching/scouting staff, stadium maintenance costs/fees, minor league salaries, development salaries, draft money, and probably a whole lot more.
Outside of the Mets, who Cohen reportedly was spending his own money, these guys are not in it to lose money and aren’t going to cost themselves to lose money. Even Cohen said he’s no longer going to run a negative.
Unless and until MLB teams post their actual books, these posts are just an exercise in futility.
None of that is to say that Nutting isn’t a horrible owner and should be spending, at the very least, $20-40M more on payroll, just pointing out that the entire premise of that list is utter horse shit.