It’s not just the executives at Fox and Major League Baseball that are seeing green this week.
The classic World Series matchup between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers—the first time the two will meet in the postseason since 1981—is also putting smiles on the faces of dozens of agents. The clash between high-spending storied franchises pushes back on the notion that teams can reach the top while keeping player payrolls low and not swimming in the free agency waters.
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Wasserman Baseball executive vice president and managing director B.B. Abbott said the matchup is an agent’s dream, since it features two of the deepest rosters and largest payrolls in baseball. “It is a testament to teams that are willing to make investments in talented players to build a roster, and of course staying somewhat healthy throughout,” he said. “It’s good for our sport for these organizations to be battling for a ring.”
The star-studded Yankees ($309 million) enter the World Series with the second-largest 2024 payroll, while the Dodgers ($241 million) claim the fifth-largest, according to Spotrac, which tracks player salaries and team payrolls (LA’s total includes just $2 million for superstar Shohei Ohtani thanks to deferrals). The Yankees (YES Network) and Dodgers (Spectrum SportsNet LA) are fueled by two of the most lucrative regional sports network deals in baseball, which provide extra cash for the spending sprees. While the two marquee teams are positioned to take on hefty contracts, many agents believe their World Series berth shows a return on investment and sends a message to teams that strive to win on smaller budgets.
The logic is not unfounded. The Arizona Diamondbacks ($119 million) reached the World Series with the 21st highest payroll in baseball last year. That jumped to more than $172 million this past season as the D-Backs looked to make it to the World Series in consecutive years.
Republik Sports CEO Rafa Nieves, who represents Dodgers star and Home Run Derby winner Teoscar Hernández, believes this year’s matchup isn’t just an agent’s dream but an industry dream, with so many stakeholders benefiting from the projected sky-high viewership. This includes small market teams who benefit financially from the league’s national television contracts.
“With these two teams in the World Series, it adds revenue to them, which translates into free agency dollars this year,” Nieves said in an interview. “These are the type of teams that you want to have extra money to spend in free agency to push the market and push the salaries up.”
With playoff money in pocket, Nieves mentioned how the Yankees can potentially reset the market for qualifying offers for high-end position players like star outfielder Juan Soto, who is poised for a $500 million-plus contract when he hits free agency after the series ends. “They’re going to go into the offseason with more ammunition. That’s just going to drive the salaries up, which is what everyone wants—except for the owners,” he said with a laugh.
The New York Mets, who fell to the Dodgers in six games in the NL Championship Series, had the highest payroll of all 30 teams this year. LA’s Ohtani played a large role in the NLCS and now enters the World Series for the first time in his career, after inking a record 10-year, $700 million contract prior to the season. He will play opposite Yankees captain Aaron Judge, whose contract pays him an average of $40 million per year. Two of the highest-paid players in baseball history battling it out in one of the most anticipated Fall Classics in years will impact the rest of the industry.
Game 1 opens at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
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