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1986 Baseball Payrolls

This is a team-by-team payroll listings for the 1986 season. The league per-player average was $415,154 and the average team payroll was $11,846,659. You can also view figures for 1985 or 1987 and individual player salaries here. Other financial information is available for many seasons using the tool on the right.

1986 PAYROLLS 1986 PAYROLLS 1985/1987 RANK TEAM AVERAGE TOTAL 1 Atlanta Braves  $657,657   $17,940,286  2 New York Yankees  $617,616   $17,248,360  3 Chicago Cubs  $601,660   $16,904,832  4 Boston Red Sox  $590,765   $16,003,236  5 Los Angeles Dodgers  $496,765   $15,471,276  6 California Angels  $526,020   $14,254,758  7 Kansas City Royals  $482,233   $13,996,417  8 New York Mets  $477,863   $13,597,780  9 Toronto Blue Jays  $423,802   $12,447,880  10 Detroit Tigers  $466,653   $12,254,047  11 Baltimore Orioles  $449,291   $12,196,745  12 Montreal Expos  $312,875   $11,937,394  13 San Diego Padres  $478,719   $11,897,522  14 Cincinnati Reds  $398,803   $11,785,036  15 Philadelphia Phillies  $367,853   $11,715,166  16 Houston Astros  $433,692   $10,368,276  17 Pittsburgh Pirates  $299,481   $10,231,500  18 Chicago White Sox  $324,337   $10,099,510  19 Oakland Athletics  $335,641   $9,933,388  20 Minnesota Twins  $364,708   $9,815,200  21 St. Louis Cardinals  $346,847   $9,481,677  22 San Francisco Giants  $284,804   $8,682,000  23 Milwaukee Brewers  $355,714   $8,429,321  24 Cleveland Indians  $269,868   $8,047,000  25 Texas Rangers  $242,485   $6,892,218  26 Seattle Mariners  $187,850   $6,382,309

Sources: December 3, 1986 New York Times/November 5, 1987 USA Today.

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.