As Salary Cap Battle Continues, MLB Playoff Payrolls Factor In Lockout

Player payrolls for the 12 MLB playoff teams will play a factor in labor discussions and an impending lockout.

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With the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season now in the books, we know who is in and what their player payrolls are. Depending on which side of the negotiating table they are on, it will be used in the battle over the owners’ desire for a salary cap.

The MLB postseason officially starts today, beginning with the Wild Card series airing on NBC and Peacock (see the broadcast schedule). All told, 12 teams will battle to ultimately become 2026 World Series Champions.

After the Los Angeles Dodgers won their second straight championship in 2025, MLB has used payroll disparity as a reason to push for a salary cap. The Dodgers return to the 2026 postseason, but what do the payrolls say about economic parity?

To start, payrolls are spread across the upper, middle, and lower payroll tiers of the league.

To start, seven of the top 10 payrolled teams made the playoffs. Teams in the top third missing the playoffs are the #2 Mets, #5 Blue Jays, and #10 Tigers.

At the bottom, the #27, 28th, and 29th ranked payrolls made the postseason. In the middle, two teams (the #12-ranked Red Sox and #19-ranked Brewers) made the cut after the regular season.

Among National League division winners, the Milwaukee Brewers won the NL Central and finished with the best record in MLB at 103-59. Based on FanGraphs projected salary figures, the Brewers rank 19th out of 30 with a $142 million projected 40-man payroll and $154 million Luxury Tax payroll, which includes player benefits. The Brewers are followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the NL West with a 100-62 record and a league-leading $408 million 40-man payroll with a $418 million Luxury Tax payroll. The NL East sees the #6-ranked payroll Atlanta Braves (finished with a 94-66 record, a $259 million player payroll, and a $256 million Luxury Tax payroll.

For the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays, with the best AL record (98-64) won the AL East with the 28th-ranked payroll ($90 million 40-man payroll; $110 million Luxury Tax payroll). The Cleveland Guardians, with their 29th-ranked payroll ($86 million 40-man; $102 million Luxury Tax payroll) won the AL Central with an 85-77 record. The Houston Astros, who won the AL West with a .500 record (81-81), has the #8 payroll ($240 million 40-man payroll; $236 million Luxury Tax payroll).

How leagues break out across the top, middle, and bottom payrolls play out interestingly at the top. Of the seven teams, just two are AL teams (#3 Yankees in the AL Wild Card with a $310 million 40-man and $336 million Luxury Tax payroll), along with the aforementioned AL West-winning Astros. In the National League, the #4-ranked Phillies ($289 million with $323 million Luxury Tax payroll), #7-ranked Cubs ($249 million, $261 million Luxury Tax payroll), and #9 Padres ($214 million, $259 million Luxury Tax payroll) join the Dodgers and Braves.

In the middle, the Boston Red Sox (ranked #12 with a $199 million payroll and $267 million Luxury Tax payroll) play in the AL Wild Card and join the Brewers as the only teams with payrolls ranked between 11 and 20.

At the bottom, the Chicago White Sox play in the AL Wild Card with the #27-ranked payroll ($94 million, $111 million Luxury Tax payroll), joining the Rays and Guardians.

Real Economic Parity Doesn’t Play Out Till The LCS And World Series

In many ways, the battle over economic parity between the league and the MLB Players Association centers on two different points of view. The players’ union will point to the wide diversity among playoff teams, while the league points to how the World Series has panned out. The last low-payroll club to win the World Series was the 2015 Kansas City Royals.

As I noted about last season’s numbers, the randomness of the 3-game Wild Card and 5-game Division Series play can easily see higher-payroll teams knocked out of the postseason. It’s not until the 7-game LCS and World Series that you see player payroll numbers tend to drift to the top.

Below shows projected payrolls for the 30 clubs in MLB via FanGraphs with playoff teams shown by seeding and playoff bracket.