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Dodgers Opening Day payroll just shy of $270 million

A look at the 2014 Dodgers payroll, using actual money paid this year.

Dodgers chairman Mark Walter.
Dodgers chairman Mark Walter.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

SAN DIEGO -- We already knew that the Dodgers have the highest Opening Day payroll in baseball, as the Associated Press reported last week. But I have been tracking the Dodgers payroll for five years, using actual money paid out that year, and the Dodgers top $269 million this season, an 11.6 percent increase over 2013.

The AP accounting methods are a little different, a hybrid of actual money paid out each season and spreading out signing bonuses over the life of long-term contracts.

If a signing bonus gets paid this year, such as the $7.5 million bonus for Erisbel Arruebarrena for instance, I count it all for 2014 rather than spread it over his five-year contract. So in addition to his $1.5 million base salary, I have Arruebarrena earning $9 million in 2014.

I am also counting both Arruebarrena and Alex Guerrero since they are signed to major league deals, even though both begin the season in the minors.

The Australia trip with its three extra roster spots make this difficult to compare apples and apples in previous years. For purposes of counting Opening Day payroll, I'm ignoring the two days of service time from the Australia trip earned by Jose Dominguez and Seth Rosin, though those negligible details are included on our payroll worksheet. I'm using Sunday in San Diego as the 2014 Opening Day.

Dodgers Payroll
Active Roster
Pos Player 2014 Salary Comments
C A.J. Ellis $3,550,000
1B Adrian Gonzalez $21,000,000
2B Dee Gordon $515,000
3B Juan Uribe $9,500,000
SS Hanley Ramirez $16,000,000
LF Carl Crawford $20,250,000
CF Andre Ethier $15,500,000
RF Yasiel Puig $2,000,000
1B/OF Scott Van Slyke $507,500
IF Justin Turner $1,000,000
IF/OF Chone Figgins $900,000
OF Mike Baxter $700,000
C Drew Butera $700,000
SP Zack Greinke $29,000,000
SP Hyun-jin Ryu $6,000,000
SP Dan Haren $10,000,000
SP Paul Maholm $1,500,000
CL Kenley Jansen $4,300,000
RHP Brian Wilson $10,000,000
RHP Chris Perez $2,300,000
LHP J.P. Howell $7,000,000
LHP Paco Rodriguez $512,500
RHP Jamey Wright $1,800,000
RHP Brandon League $7,500,000
RHP Chris Withrow $506,600
Total Active Roster $172,541,600 (2013 was $185,293,500; down 6.9%)
Disabled List
Pos Player 2014 Salary Comments
SP Clayton Kershaw $22,000,000
SP Chad Billingsley $12,000,000
SP Josh Beckett $15,750,000
OF
Matt Kemp $21,000,000
LHP
Scott Elbert $575,000
LHP
Onelki Garcia $500,000
Total Disabled List
$71,825,000 (2013 was $40,505,000; up 77.3%)
Total Active Roster + DL
$244,366,600 (2013 was $225,798,500; up 8.2%)
Dead Money / Other
Player 2014 Salary Comments

Alex Guerero $14,000,000 in Triple-A
Erisbel Arruebarrena $9,000,000 in Double-A
Andruw Jones $3,375,000 deferred 2009 salary
Chris Capuano $1,000,000 option buyout
Mark Ellis $1,000,000 option buyout
Matt Guerrier $1,000,000 option buyout
Money from Boston ($3,900,000) part of Punto trade
Total Dead Money
$25,475,000 (2013 was $15,968,716; up 59.6%)
Total 2014 Dodgers Payroll
$269,841,600 (2013 was $241,767,216; up 11.6%)