A $239 million "Luxury"
By Joe Davis
Today, George Steinbrenner found out that he has to pay $30,637,531. in luxury taxes to MLB (based on opening day salaries). His 208 million dollar payroll is the highest in MLB so he will have to pay the record highest in luxury taxes ever for a Major League Baseball team. We're guessing Georgie won't be too happy with that — with his pricey team iin second-to-last place.
"For the luxury tax, payrolls are based on the average annual values of contracts for all players on the 40-man roster and include benefits. Under that formula, the Yankees opened with a payroll of $204.6 million, followed by Boston ($131.2 million), the New York Mets ($116.4 million), the Los Angeles Angels ($111.2 million) and Seattle ($109.3 million).
"Teams with payrolls above $128 million owe tax this year. The Yankees pay at a rate of 40 percent for the amount they are over because they will be exceeding the threshold for the third time under the labor contract that began in 2003. The Red Sox, projected to be over for the second time, pay at a 30 percent rate."
writes Ronald Blum of the Associated Press.
If the Yankees were to acquire another player during the season, the tax can only go up.
Yes, The Boston Red Sox also paid a luxury tax, but compared to New York's it's a measly $969,177.
I hope Georgie isn't too mad about a team that is 6-9. Hope it's worth it Mr. Steinbrenner!
Information from the AP was used in this report.
