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Dodgers’ 2020 Opening Day payroll was a pro-rated $79 million

A look at the full-season and pro-rated totals

LA From The Air Photo by Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The Dodgers’ Opening Day payroll would have been just over $190 million if this were a full season. As it stands, the total was $79 million. The 60-game season equates to 37% of a full year, and salaries are pro-rated accordingly, with some quirks.

I was waiting to post something on this until finding late-addition Terrance Gore’s 2020 salary. Thankfully, Ronald Blum at the Associated Press provided it on Monday ($650,000).

Clayton Kershaw is in the second year of a three-year, $93 million contract, but while it’s split evenly from 2019-21, $23 million of the contract was a signing bonus, with $7.67 million paid each year. That bonus isn’t pro-rated, but the remaining $23.33 million is (to $8.64 million), bringing Kershaw’s total for 2020 to just over $16.3 million.

That’s tops on the team this year, though in a full season Kershaw would rank second behind David Price, whose $32 million would have been pro-rated to $11.85 million, but he opted out. Had Price played this season, the full-year payroll would be $206 million and the pro-rated portion slightly more than $90 million.

Dodgers 2020 Opening Day payroll

Pos Player Original 2020 Signing bonus 2020 salary 60-g pro-rated Bonus + salary
Pos Player Original 2020 Signing bonus 2020 salary 60-g pro-rated Bonus + salary
IL Clayton Kershaw $31,000,000 $7,666,667 $23,333,333 $8,641,975 $16,308,642
RF Mookie Betts $27,000,000 $0 $27,000,000 $10,000,000 $10,000,000
3B Justin Turner $19,000,000 $0 $19,000,000 $7,037,037 $7,037,037
CL Kenley Jansen $18,000,000 $0 $18,000,000 $6,666,667 $6,666,667
1B Max Muncy $5,500,000 $4,500,000 $1,000,000 $370,370 $4,870,370
OF A.J. Pollock $12,000,000 $0 $12,000,000 $4,444,444 $4,444,444
CF Cody Bellinger $11,500,000 $0 $11,500,000 $4,259,259 $4,259,259
RHP Blake Treinen $10,000,000 $0 $10,000,000 $3,703,704 $3,703,704
RHP Joe Kelly $8,500,000 $0 $8,500,000 $3,148,148 $3,148,148
OF Joc Pederson $7,750,000 $0 $7,750,000 $2,870,370 $2,870,370
SS Corey Seager $7,600,000 $0 $7,600,000 $2,814,815 $2,814,815
IF/OF Kiké Hernandez $5,900,000 $0 $5,900,000 $2,185,185 $2,185,185
IF/OF Chris Taylor $5,600,000 $0 $5,600,000 $2,074,074 $2,074,074
SP Ross Stripling $2,100,000 $1,500,000 $600,000 $222,222 $1,722,222
SP Alex Wood $4,000,000 $0 $4,000,000 $1,481,481 $1,481,481
RHP Pedro Baez $4,000,000 $0 $4,000,000 $1,481,481 $1,481,481
C Austin Barnes $1,100,000 $0 $1,100,000 $407,407 $407,407
SP Julio Urias $1,000,000 $0 $1,000,000 $370,370 $370,370
LHP Scott Alexander $875,000 $0 $875,000 $324,074 $324,074
45IL Jimmy Nelson $750,000 $0 $750,000 $277,778 $277,778
OF Terrance Gore $650,000 $0 $650,000 $240,741 $240,741
SP Walker Buehler $603,500 $0 $603,500 $223,519 $223,519
RHP Dylan Floro $593,500 $0 $593,500 $219,815 $219,815
LHP Adam Kolarek $583,500 $0 $583,500 $216,111 $216,111
LHP Caleb Ferguson $583,500 $0 $583,500 $216,111 $216,111
C Will Smith $573,500 $0 $573,500 $212,407 $212,407
1B/OF Matt Beaty $573,500 $0 $573,500 $212,407 $212,407
SP Dustin May $573,500 $0 $573,500 $212,407 $212,407
RHP Dennis Santana $573,500 $0 $573,500 $212,407 $212,407
1B/3B Edwin Rios $566,000 $0 $566,000 $209,630 $209,630
RHP Brusdar Graterol $566,000 $0 $566,000 $209,630 $209,630
LHP Jake McGee $563,500 $0 $563,500 $208,704 $208,704
Total active roster plus IL $190,178,500 $79,041,420
Dead money Scott Kazmir $8,000,000 $8,000,000 $0 $0 $8,000,000
Dead money Kenta Maeda $3,436,500 $1,000,000 $2,436,500 $902,407 $1,902,407

Scott Kazmir is the third-highest paid Dodger this year, with the $8 million deferred from his 2017 salary paid in 2020. Had the season progressed as originally scheduled, that $8 million would have ranked 10th on the team.

The Dodgers sent $1 million to the Twins as part of the Kenta Maeda trade and agreed to send up to $10 million more, $3 million split between 2020 and 2021, and up to $7 million to cover various contract incentives. On a pro-rated basis, the Dodgers will pay the Twins $902,407 plus the $1 million they already sent, with a potential for up to $2.59 million more in incentives.

I didn’t include Yasiel Sierra, who is not on the 40-man roster but has a $5.5 million salary this year. His salary doesn’t count against the competitive balance tax, but I’m not certain of the status of said contract this year since commissioner Rob Manfred suspended all minor league contracts during the pandemic.

Counting Sierra, Price, Maeda, and Kazmir, the Dodgers’ Opening Day payroll in a full 2020 season would have been roughly $221 million, up from $206 million in 2019.

Other Dodgers with signing bonuses this year include Max Muncy, who got a $4.5 million bonus as part of his three-year, $26 million contract in addition to his $1 million salary in 2020 (pro-rated to $370,370); and Ross Stripling, who got $1.5 million of his $2.1 million salary as a signing bonus, while the remaining $600,000 is pro-rated to $222,222 for the 60-game season.

Per Blum, the full-season league-wide average salary on Opening Day with the planned 26-player rosters would have been $4,386,553 this season, up 0.2 percent from 2019.