New York Yankees payroll no 2 in MLB, first team with three $300M+ players after Aaron Judge deal

Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, two of the Yankees' $300 million+ contract holders, with Judge's wife in New York and Gerrit Cole is the third Yankee with a $300 million-plus deal. The trio makes more than 43% of the Yankees payroll.
SF Gate
Michael Bennington
Friday December 9, 2022

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With Aaron Judge re-signing with the New York Yankees on Wednesday, the team’s 2023 payroll went up to more than $260 million pushing them to No. 2 in MLB. Also, this makes them the only team in the history of baseball to ink three $300 million-plus deals with their current players.

According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Aaron Judge and the Yankees have agreed to a nine-year, $360 million deal. This means that Judge will make an average of $40 million per season over the course of the deal. This makes him the Yankees‘ highest-paid player earning more than pitcher Gerrit Cole, who gets $36 million a year, and slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who has a $32 million annual salary.

The New York Yankees’ 2023 payroll

Spotrac puts the Yankees’ 2023 payroll at $162,085,714 before the signing of Aaron Judge. It will be worth $202,085,714 after Judge returns. When you add up Tommy Kahnle’s two-year contract and Judge’s $40 million a year along with tax liabilities, the Yankees’ projected payroll for 2023 goes up to around $261 million. Since Cole, Judge, and Stanton make up more than half of that, they will be hoping for big years from the three of them.

With this huge payroll in 2023, the Yankees are only second to the New York Mets, who are expected to spend about $300 million on their players’ salaries.

ACTIVE PLAYERS (41)AGEPOS.STATUSWAIVER OPTIONSBASE SALARYSIGNING BONUSPAYROLL SALARYADJ. SALARYPAYROLL %LUX. TAX SALARY
Aaron Judge 31RFVetn/a$40,000,000$40,000,000$40,000,00019.2540,000,000
Gerrit Cole 32SPVetn/a$36,000,000$36,000,000$36,000,00017.3236,000,000
Giancarlo Stanton33DHVetn/a$32,000,000$32,000,000$32,000,00015.422,000,000
Josh Donaldson373BVetn/a$21,000,000$21,000,000$21,000,00010.125,000,000
Anthony Rizzo331BVetn/a$17,000,000$17,000,000$17,000,0008.1820,000,000
D.J. LeMahieu 343BVetn/a$15,000,000$15,000,000$15,000,0007.2215,000,000
Luis Severino 29SPVetn/a$15,000,000$15,000,000$15,000,0007.2212,250,000
Aaron Hicks33CFVetn/a$10,500,000$285,714$10,785,714$10,785,7145.1910,000,000
Isiah Kiner-Falefa28SSArb 3n/a$6,000,000$6,000,000$6,000,0002.896,000,000
Tommy Kahnle33RPVetn/a$5,750,000$5,750,000$5,750,0002.775,750,000
Harrison Bader29CFVetn/a$4,700,000$500,000$5,200,000$5,200,0002.55,200,000
Lou Trivino31RPArb 3 (S2)2$4,100,000$4,100,000$4,100,0001.974,100,000
Gleyber Torres262BArb 3 (S2)200
Nestor Cortes28SPArb 1200
Jose Trevino30CArb 1100
Clay Holmes30RP/CLArb 2000
Wandy Peralta31RPArb 4 (S2)n/a00
Domingo German30SPArb 2000
Jonathan Loaisiga28RPArb 2100
Kyle Higashioka33CArb 2000
Michael King28RPArb 1200
Lucas Luetge36RPArb 2000
Jimmy Cordero31RPArb 1 (S2)100
Frankie Montas30SPArb 3n/a00
Albert Abreu 27RPPre-Arb000
Jhony Brito 25SPPre-Arb300
Oswaldo Cabrera 242BPre-Arb200
Scott Effross 29RPPre-Arb300
Junior Fernandez 26RPPre-Arb000
Estevan Florial 25OFPre-Arb000
Deivi Garcia 24RPPre-Arb000
Luis Gil 25SPPre-Arb000
Yoendrys Gomez 23SPPre-Arb100
Matt Krook 28SPPre-Arb300
Ron Marinaccio 28RPPre-Arb200
Oswald Peraza 23SSPre-Arb100
Everson Pereira 22OFPre-Arb200
Ben Rortvedt 25CPre-Arb100
Clarke Schmidt 27SPPre-Arb100
Randy Vasquez 24SSPre-Arb300
Greg Weissert 28RPPre-Arb300

Aaron Judge’s $40 million a year is 19% of the Yankees’ payroll for the 2023 season. Gerrit Cole, their most important starting pitcher, makes the second most money that accounts for 17% of the Yankees’ payroll. Cole has a nine-year contract with the New York Yankees. In 2023, he will be in the fourth year of the deal and will make $36 million. Giancarlo Stanton is third, and his $32 million annual salary is 15% of the total team payroll. The Miami Marlins won’t start giving the Yankees offset money because they took over his huge contract until 2026.

Josh Donaldson, who plays third base, is the fourth Yankees player to make more than $20 million in 2023. He accounts for 10% of the Yankees’ payroll. He and IKF came to Yankee Stadium last season after Gary Sanchez was traded to the Twins. Donaldson only hit .222 and had 15 home runs and 62 RBIs. However, the Yankees still have to pay him $21 million in 2023. He could be traded to reduce the wage bill.

Calculating the Yankees’ payroll of $261 million in 2023

PAYROLL TYPEBASE SALARYSIGNING BONUSINCENTIVESTOTAL SALARYTOTAL ADJ. SALARY
Active Payroll$207,050,000$785,714$207,835,714$207,835,714
Est. Arbitration Salaries$35,394,899
Est. Pre-Arbitration Salaries$4,770,000
Projected Total Payroll$248,000,613

PAYROLL TYPETOTAL
Active AAV/Payroll$201,300,000
Est. Arbitration AAV/Payroll$35,394,899
Est. Pre-Arbitration AAV/Payroll$4,770,000
Estimated Player Benefits$16,500,000
Estimated Minor League Contracts$2,250,000
Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool Contribution$1,666,666
Proj. Tax Payroll$221,716,666
Proj. Tax Payroll (Active + Est. Arb + Est. Pre-Arb)$261,881,565

The Yankees are the first MLB team with 3 players on $300M+ contracts

The Yankees just paid $360 million to keep Aaron Judge, who had become a free agent, to keep him in New York. They now have two more contracts that go past $300 million and three such gigantic contracts on the Yankees’ payroll make a baseball record.

“The Yankees are the first team in MLB history with three players on $300M+ contracts (h/t @TalkinYanks),” Front Office Sports tweeted.

The Miami Marlins gave Giancarlo Stanton a 13-year, $325 million contract in the 2014 offseason. When he wanted a trade in 2017, the Yankees took him. The Marlins agreed to send some money to the Bronx to help pay for his huge contract, so New York doesn’t have to pay the whole $325 million. In 2019, free-agent star pitcher Gerrit Cole signed a nine-year, $324 million deal with the Yankees.

The Yankees have always had the most money of any baseball team. Because of this, they’ve won more games than any other team in their history. Most likely, the Yankees will be in the playoffs late again in 2023. They can only hope that the money they put in will pay off in the end.

What do you think about the ballooning Yankees’ payroll? Leave your comment below.

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