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1991 Baseball Payrolls

This is a team-by-team payroll listings for the 1991 season. The league per-player average was $857,746 and the average team payroll was $25,526,183. You can also view figures for 1990 or 1992 and individual player salaries here. Other financial information is available for many seasons using the tool on the right.

1991 PAYROLLS 1991 PAYROLLS 1990/1992 RANK TEAM AVERAGE TOTAL 1 Oakland Athletics  $1,394,119   $39,191,167  2 Boston Red Sox  $1,091,716   $36,821,537  3 Los Angeles Dodgers  $1,302,979   $35,557,927  4 San Francisco Giants  $1,080,523   $33,167,954  5 New York Mets  $1,113,446   $32,492,502  6 Kansas City Royals  $1,107,760   $32,412,661  7 California Angels  $1,136,798   $32,411,561  8 New York Yankees  $946,172   $31,938,000  9 Toronto Blue Jays  $1,086,041   $31,266,809  10 Chicago Cubs  $982,579   $27,103,867  11 Cincinnati Reds  $936,010   $26,939,166  12 Pittsburgh Pirates  $818,093   $26,196,166  13 Milwaukee Brewers  $805,118   $24,509,116  14 Detroit Tigers  $850,109   $24,233,245  15 Minnesota Twins  $922,408   $23,644,814  16 San Diego Padres  $709,359   $23,323,558  17 St. Louis Cardinals  $796,353   $22,950,837  18 Texas Rangers  $639,800   $22,885,314  19 Atlanta Braves  $686,340   $21,831,330  20 Philadelphia Phillies  $702,613   $21,321,832  21 Chicago White Sox  $637,152   $18,092,979  22 Seattle Mariners  $602,093   $17,453,833  23 Montreal Expos  $597,514   $16,752,964  24 Baltimore Orioles  $514,599   $15,281,669  25 Cleveland Indians  $446,250   $13,415,928  26 Houston Astros  $395,444   $12,484,014

Sources: Associated Press December 5, 1991/San Francisco Chronicle November 5, 1992.

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.