A Look at the 2017 Opening Day Payrolls

The 2017 Opening Day Payrolls were released by Forbes.com on Sunday and it offers something for everyone in Toronto Blue Jays Nation!

Allow me to get the ball rolling.

"See?! The team went up in payroll from last year. Up!"
"Cheap Rogers! 15th Place?! 4%?! Behind the Red Sox, Yankees, and Orioles. Typical! Loosen the purse strings, Grandma! Should have paid Edwin!"

Did I about sum it up for everyone? Good. Let's move forward.

The Jays have an Opening Day Payroll of $143,941,100, up from the just over $138M from last season. Did they spend that money wisely? Time will tell. This figure puts them behind teams such as the aforementioned Sox ($178.8M), Yankees ($195.3M), and Orioles ($164.3M). But, also, the Royals ($145.9M), and a couple other American League teams putting the Jays 9th in the AL.

The biggest drops came from the San Diego Padres (-40%), the Yankees (-13.3%), and the Chicago White Sox (-13.2%) while the biggest climbers include (unsurprisingly, following their World Series appearance) the Cleveland Indians (+44.3%), also the Miami Marlins (+60.6%... hm... must be another "win now" cycle for Loria?), Atlanta Braves (+32.2%), and Philadelphia Phillies (+21.8%).

Wait, what? Atlanta, Philly, and the Marlins? Do they smell weakness in the New York Mets, or something? Or Washington Nationals, perhaps? Suddenly the entire division is loading up? Weird.

It's important to note, as the article does, that this is the first season under the new labour deal that runs from 2017 until 2021. The Luxury Tax threshold goes from $189M from the previous CBA to $195M this year, $197M next year, and then $206M, $208M, and $210M in the next three seasons, respectively.

As it stands, the Los Angeles Dodgers ($225.6M), Detroit Tigers ($199.8M), and the Yankees would break the thresholds.