MLB Financials by Year

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1976 Baseball Payrolls

This is a team-by-team payroll listings for the 1976 season. The league per-player average was $46,863 and the average team payroll was $1,171,570. You can also view figures for 1977. Other financial information is available for many seasons using the tool on the right.

1976 PAYROLLS 1976 PAYROLLS 1956/1977 RANK TEAM AVERAGE TOTAL 1 Boston Red Sox  $2,052,460   $82,098  2 Philadelphia Phillies  $1,803,000   $72,120  3 Cincinnati Reds  $1,679,500   $67,180  4 New York Yankees  $1,630,900   $65,236  5 Texas Rangers  $1,507,700   $60,308  6 Los Angeles Dodgers  $1,498,500   $59,940  7 Kansas City Royals  $1,467,500   $58,700  8 Chicago White Sox  $1,191,500   $47,660  9 Pittsburgh Pirates  $1,174,500   $46,980  10 Oakland Athletics  $1,116,700   $44,668  11 Chicago Cubs  $1,104,000   $44,160  12 Atlanta Braves  $1,100,000   $44,000  13 Baltimore Orioles  $1,062,000   $42,480  14 Montreal Expos  $1,033,500   $41,340  15 California Angels  $1,030,000   $41,200  16 Cleveland Indians  $1,014,060   $40,562  17 St. Louis Cardinals  $961,500   $38,460  18 San Francisco Giants  $936,000   $37,440  19 Houston Astros  $933,120   $37,325  20 New York Mets  $927,500   $37,100  21 Detroit Tigers  $784,500   $31,380  22 San Diego Padres  $743,000   $29,720  23 Milwaukee Brewers  $685,250   $27,410  24 Minnesota Twins  $681,000   $27,240

Source: Rich Hill. The data collected directly from MLBPA for his own research. It is the sum of individual player salaries and is believed to be incomplete. It should still give a good representation of '76 salaries.

Baseball Economics sources/bibliography:
Business of Baseball, The by Albert Powers
Baseball, Inc.: The National Pastime As Big Business by Frank P. Jozsa Jr.
Baseball and Billions: A Probing Look Inside the Big Business of Our National Pastime by Andrew Zimbalist
Built to Win: Inside Stories and Leadership Strategies from Baseball's Winningest GM by John Schuerholz
Free Agency and Competitive Balance in Baseball by Ronald W. Cox
The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present by David Pietrusza.
Getting in the Game: Inside Baseball's Winter Meetings by Josh Lewin
State of Baseball Management: Decision-Making in the Best and Worst Teams, 1993-2003 by Scott Barzilla
In the Best Interests of Baseball? The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig by Andrew Zimbalist
May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy, by Andrew Zimbalist
The Inside Pitch ... and More: Baseball's Business and the Public Trust by Gene A. Budig
Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Middle Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1900-1948 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Late Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball 1945-1972 by Dean A. Sullivan
Total Baseball: The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia by John Thorn, et al.