Major League Baseball’s offseason has kept things interesting and exciting so far, as a loaded free agent class of players regularly signs with new teams.
Juan Soto was a free agent manager this offseason, and he signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets.
The dollar amount of contracts in the MLB has continued to rise, with Soto’s contract being $65 million more than Shohei Ohtani’s previous contract of $700 million last season.
With these insane contract amounts comes a unique penalty called the luxury tax.
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale of “X,” an MLB record $311,305 in luxury tax penalties will be assessed this year, more than $100 million more than a year ago.
There are an MLB-record $311.305 million in luxury tax penalties this year, more than $100 million more than a year ago, from the nine teams that broke the luxury tax.
Dodgers: $103.016 million
Price: $97.116 million
Yankees: $62.512 million
Phillies: $14.351 million
Atlanta: $14.026 million
Rangers: $10.807 million
Astros:…— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 20, 2024
The definition of the luxury tax, otherwise known as the competitive balance tax, is that when a club exceeds a predetermined salary cap, they are subject to the tax.
The size of contracts is reaching new heights, and the size of the luxury tax is also increasing.
Nightengale identifies the teams that eclipse the luxury tax, and the noticeable connection is that most of the teams are big market teams.
The top three teams with the highest luxury ceilings are the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mets and New York Yankees, three of MLB’s biggest market teams.
It will be interesting if Soto’s contract is matched or lost next season, but it’s hard to imagine it will be.
However, MLB fans get more exciting baseball because teams can upload their rosters.
NEXT: The free agent first baseman was not happy with the latest Insider report
