Los Angeles Dodgers embarrass St. Louis Cardinals with record tax payments

After years of spending money on free agents to try and remain competitive in the National League and throughout Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals took a step back in payroll in 2025.

Their only free agent signing was reliever Phil Maton, who inked a one-year, $2 million deal with the Cardinals last season. Maton's deal was one of many signs that the Cardinals would transition the bulk of their spending away from free agency and into player development. With an expanded minor-league coaching staff and a new pitching lab under development, this reallocation of funds helped push money away from player salaries and into player development.

There's a strong chance this trend continues. The Cardinals offloaded the salaries of Erick Fedde, Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, and Steven Matz during the regular season. They also watched Miles Mikolas depart via free agency. The departures of those five players alone represent a significant salary decrease heading into the 2026 season.

With rumors swirling regarding Brendan Donovan, JoJo Romero, Willson Contreras, and Nolan Arenado along with the trade of Sonny Gray, there's a strong chance the Cardinals continue to see their total financial commitments to players fall precipitously before spring training starts in February.

While the Cardinals have been busy slashing payroll, several of their rivals have spent freely and with little concern toward their bottom line.

The Los Angeles Dodgers 2025 tax payments alone exceed the St. Louis Cardinals total payroll by a stark amount.

In 2025, the Los Angeles Dodgers boasted the largest payroll following the Competitive Balance Tax payments. Their total payroll commitments, including taxes, was a reported $417,341,608. Of that total, $169,375,768 came from taxes, a nearly 40% tax hit on an already astronomical payroll that was in excess of $250 million.

The Dodgers' tax assessment alone exceeded the total payrolls of 12 other franchises in baseball. The Miami Marlins, who had a total payroll of just $82,926,975 in 2025, had contracts that were less than half of the taxes paid by the Los Angeles Dodgers. That is an embarrassing statistic for the Marlins, a team with some talented young players and a potentially fervent fanbase in Miami.

The St. Louis Cardinals, too, paid less in total salaries than the Dodgers paid in taxes in 2025.

With a final payroll of $153,544,320 last year, St. Louis fell nearly $16 million short of the Dodgers' tax assessment. This discrepancy in spending is indicative of two franchises headed in vastly different directions. The Dodgers are looking to maintain dominance after back-to-back World Series championships by signing or acquiring several free agents. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are looking to build from within by trading pricey players.

If the Cardinals want to catch back up to the mighty Dodgers. They'll have to spend money in the near future. That won't happen this offseason. I would be quite surprised if it happens next offseason even if there isn't a lockout and the regular season goes on without a hitch. However, come 2028, the DeWitt family should prepare to open up their pocketbooks and get the Cardinals back into a comfortable financial spot where they won't be spending less than one franchise's tax hit.