MLB Financials by Year

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1988 Baseball Payrolls

This is a team-by-team payroll listings for the 1988 season. The league per-player average was $439,889 and the average team payroll was $12,378,082. You can also view figures for 1987 or 1989 and individual player salaries here. Other financial information is available for many seasons using the tool on the right.

1988 PAYROLLS 1988 PAYROLLS 1987/1989 RANK TEAM AVERAGE TOTAL 1 New York Yankees  $718,670   $21,524,152  2 Los Angeles Dodgers  $573,441   $16,412,515  3 Boston Red Sox  $610,172   $15,629,592  4 Detroit Tigers  $612,326   $15,597,071  5 New York Mets  $605,895   $15,452,714  6 Toronto Blue Jays  $484,427   $14,098,725  7 Kansas City Royals  $522,555   $14,058,873  8 St. Louis Cardinals  $522,296   $14,027,500  9 Houston Astros  $545,595   $13,565,576  10 Minnesota Twins  $446,598   $13,444,800  11 Philadelphia Phillies  $501,954   $13,248,000  12 Chicago Cubs  $472,008   $12,849,333  13 Atlanta Braves  $384,641   $12,634,667  14 California Angels  $417,278   $12,382,388  15 San Francisco Giants  $403,567   $12,332,000  16 Oakland Athletics  $424,581   $11,628,083  17 Baltimore Orioles  $424,568   $11,370,404  18 San Diego Padres  $409,930   $10,978,168  19 Milwaukee Brewers  $385,338   $10,864,000  20 Cleveland Indians  $305,841   $10,244,500  21 Cincinnati Reds  $304,647   $9,998,833  22 Montreal Expos  $343,047   $9,452,333  23 Pittsburgh Pirates  $307,088   $8,647,500  24 Chicago White Sox  $226,392   $7,736,952  25 Texas Rangers  $241,389   $7,105,500  26 Seattle Mariners  $242,880   $6,545,950

Sources: Associated Press December 5, 1991/Major League Baseball.

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.