The National League Championship Series features teams with player payrolls more than $100 million apart.
The Dodgers’ 2021 payroll is about $260 million, while the Braves’ is slightly less than $150 million.
Both teams’ payrolls rose during the regular season as a result of trades and other roster moves.
The Dodgers’ payroll is about 73% higher than the Braves’ and by far is the highest among the 30 MLB teams. The Braves’ payroll ranks 12th to 14th in MLB, based on various calculations.
Playing teams with bigger budgets isn’t new for the Braves, who won the NL East over three teams with higher payrolls than their own: the Mets, Phillies and, before an in-season sell-off of players, Nationals. The Brewers, whom the Braves defeated in an NL Division Series, had a lower payroll.
The Dodgers’ spending has enabled them to acquire big-ticket players, such as right fielder Mookie Betts from Boston last year and starting pitcher Max Scherzer and infielder Trea Turner from Washington at this year’s trade deadline. But despite the wide disparity in payrolls, the Dodgers and Braves share an emphasis on scouting and player development in building their rosters with significant numbers of homegrown players.
Neither team will get the full impact of their payrolls in the NLCS because of injuries and other factors.
The Dodgers, for example, are without three players with combined 2021 salaries of more than $70 million: first baseman Max Muncy (elbow injury) and starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw (forearm injury) and Trevor Bauer (paid administrative leave). Those players account for about 27% of the Dodgers’ payroll.
Not on the Braves’ NLCS roster are five players with combined 2021 salaries of about $31 million: outfielders Ronald Acuna (knee injury), Marcell Ozuna (paid administrative leave), Jorge Soler (COVID-19) and Ender Inciarte (released) and starting pitcher Mike Soroka (Achilles tendon injury). Those players represent about 20% of the Braves’ payroll (including only the prorated portion of Soler’s salary that the Braves assumed when they acquired him July 30).
