Dodgers paying record $169M CBT tax after winning second straight World Series

Championship gold isn’t cheap. 

Fresh off taking down the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series, the back-to-back defending champs are set to cough up a record $169.4 million in competitive balance tax (CBT) for the 2025 season, the Associated Press reported Friday.

The stunning cost stems from LA’s whopping $417.3 million CBT payroll, which is calculated based on the average annual value of player contracts rather than year-to-year salary. 

According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Dodgers’ actual cash payroll for 2025 sat around $347 million.

Factoring in the CBT bill, the Dodgers will pay roughly $516.4 million for their championship-winning roster — easily the most expensive team in baseball history.

The Dodgers shattered their own CBT record from just one year prior — paying $103 million in CBT en route to a Fall Classic triumph over the Yankees.

Stunningly, LA’s tax bill is more expensive than the CBT payrolls of 12 major league clubs, including the Milwaukee Brewers, whom the Dodgers dispatched in the National League Championship Series.

Outlined by CBS Sports, the CBT threshold for 2025 was $241 million. Tax rates escalate the more you exceed the threshold, and since LA has repeatedly paid the CBT, they were hit with the highest tax rates.

Those rates include a 110% tax on every dollar spent over $301 million — known as the “Steve Cohen tax,” after the Mets’ extravagant-spending owner.

Fittingly, Cohen’s squad ranked second behind the Dodgers on the list of nine teams that were sent CBT bills this season, charged $91.6 million for its $346.7 million CBT payroll headlined by Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765 million megadeal signed ahead of the season. 

The Yankees rounded out the top three with a $319.5 million CBT payroll and $61.8 million CBT tax, followed by the Phillies, Blue Jays, Padres, Red Sox, Astros and Rangers. 

In total, the nine teams combined for just under $403 million owed in CBT.

According to the collective bargaining agreement, the first $3.5 million of that total goes toward player benefits. The remaining cash is split evenly, the first half funding player retirement accounts, and the second getting dispersed among non-CBT teams.

The 2023 Mets are the only other team to exceed a nine-figure CBT bill ($100.8 million). 

The Amazin’s became the first squad to pay more than $43.6 million in CBT for a single season — a mark that has since been topped eight times.

The Dodgers have shown no signs of cutting costs for next season, remaining active this offseason and already inking former Mets closer Edwin Diaz to a three-year, $69 million deal.