According to figures obtained by The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the season with an all-time high payroll and are on track to pay a record tax.
If nothing changes by the end of the season, the five teams that exceeded the threshold will be one shy of the most.
The Cohen Tax was named after New York Mets owner Steven Cohen, and the Los Angeles Dodgers were the only team to exceed it. If the domestic violence suspension of Bauer is upheld, the Dodgers' payroll would go down by almost $30 million. The average of Bauer's three-year contract is $102 million.
The Mets were second in the league in their second season under Cohen. That left them on track for a tax payment of just under $22.50 million after they added outfielder Mark Canha and infielder EduardoEscobar.
The Yankees had a tax of $8.6 million.
Boston was fifth at $232.3 million, which would result in a tax of about $466,000, and Philadelphia was fourth at $233 million, which would result in a tax of approximately $629,000.
San Diego is the only team other than the Dodgers to pay tax this year.
Each club's share of the new $50 million pool for pre-arbitration players is included in the luxury tax payrolls. Money owed to released players is included in the figures.
The tax is billed based on the final figure in December as the totals change throughout the season. Major League Baseball included club offers in its payroll figures.
There are four tax thresholds this year, which are $230 million, $250 million, $270 million and $290 million.
First time offenders pay 20% on the amount above the first threshold, 32% above the second, 62.5% above the third and 80% above the fourth.
The Dodgers pay more than the first, second, third, and fourth.
Los Angeles has paid tax every season for the last five years and its total bill has gone up every year. The Yankees' bill is second only to that.
If the Dodgers owe tax in 2023, they will pay 50% above next year's first threshold of $233 million, 62% above $253 million, 85% above $273 million and 10% above $293 million.
The Dodgers had a luxury tax payroll of $297 million in 2015, which resulted in a record tax of $43.6 million.
After a team's tax rate drops below the initial threshold, it goes back to the lowest level.
Oakland had a luxury tax payroll of $64.8 million, Pittsburgh had a luxury tax payroll of $73.5 million, and Baltimore had a luxury tax payroll of $79.9 million.
The average baseball salary fell by 10.2% over the course of last season according to the players' association.
Had the season not been shortened by the coronaviruses, 2020 would have been at full salaries.
After rising from $3.97 million in 2016 to a record at just under $4.1 million in the first year of a new collective bargaining agreement, the average went down. Had a full schedule been played, the 2020 average would have been $3.89 million, but it was cut to $1.6 million by salary reductions.
The salary report is usually released in December but this year it was delayed due to staff bargaining.
The figures are based on 2021. salaries, earned bonuses, and shares of signing bonuses for 1,070 players on 26 man rosters and injured lists. MLB used a slightly different method to calculate the average.
According to a study by The Associated Press, this year's opening day average was up 5.9% to $4.4 million. As veterans are released and replaced by younger players, the average decreases.
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