While it's no surprise that the Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball once again, there is a bit of surprise at #2. For years it's been the Boston Red Sox, but despite the Sox offseason spending spree they trail your Philadelphia Phillies.
The Yankees will spend $202 million this year, the Phillies $173 million and the Red Sox $162 million. The Angels and White Sox round out the top five.
To put the Phillies payroll in perspective, it is higher than the bottom four teams' payrolls combined. Their payroll has swelled by 31 million since last year, an 18% increase. The payrolls of the Yankees and Red Sox have actually grown very little from last year to this.
↵As for the Phils NL East rivals. The Mets have the 7th highest payroll, the Braves came in at #15, the Nationals at #22 and the Marlins at #24. This is the same franchise that in 1994, Phillies part owner Bill Giles referred to as a "small market team." The times they are a-changing.
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