MLB Financials by Year

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1985 Baseball Payrolls

This is a team-by-team payroll listings for the 1985 season. The league per-player average was $372,650 and the average team payroll was $10,587,491. You can also view figures for 1984 or 1986 and individual player salaries here. Other financial information is available for many seasons using the tool on the right.

1985 PAYROLLS 1985 PAYROLLS 1984/1986 RANK TEAM AVERAGE TOTAL 1 New York Yankees  $546,364   $15,398,047  2 Atlanta Braves  $540,988   $14,771,382  3 Chicago Cubs  $413,765   $13,478,225  4 Baltimore Orioles  $438,256   $12,371,429  5 Milwaukee Brewers  $430,843   $12,216,965  6 Los Angeles Dodgers  $424,273   $11,970,412  7 Toronto Blue Jays  $385,995   $11,800,281  8 Philadelphia Phillies  $399,728   $11,785,445  9 Kansas City Royals  $368,469   $11,754,512  10 California Angels  $433,818   $11,559,593  11 Boston Red Sox  $386,597   $11,080,695  12 New York Mets  $389,365   $11,013,714  13 Detroit Tigers  $406,755   $10,850,643  14 St. Louis Cardinals  $386,505   $10,441,639  15 Pittsburgh Pirates  $392,271   $10,223,945  16 Montreal Expos  $315,328   $10,195,246  17 Houston Astros  $366,250   $10,153,335  18 Oakland Athletics  $352,004   $10,008,823  19 Chicago White Sox  $348,488   $9,849,689  20 San Diego Padres  $400,497   $9,801,052  21 Cincinnati Reds  $336,786   $9,258,848  22 Texas Rangers  $257,573   $8,101,222  23 San Francisco Giants  $320,370   $7,777,945  24 Minnesota Twins  $258,039   $7,238,667  25 Cleveland Indians  $219,879   $6,623,133  26 Seattle Mariners  $169,694   $5,549,870

Sources: The Sporting News 1986 Baseball Guide/USA Today November 5, 1987.

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.