Dodgers have baseball’s highest payroll, Yankees drop to third

NEW YORK – An Associated Press study of big league contracts shows the New York Yankees aren’t among baseball’s top two payrolls for the first time in nearly a quarter-century.

The Los Angeles Dodgers topped the major leagues for the fourth straight opening day but dropped to $225 million, the AP study showed Sunday. That’s the Dodgers’ lowest payroll since 2013.

Detroit was second at $199.75 million and the Yankees, in the midst of a turn toward youth, third at $195 million. The Yankees had not been outside the top two since 1993, and their opening-day payroll had not dropped this low since 2007, according the AP’s calculations. New York topped opening-day payrolls from 1999-2013 before falling behind the Dodgers each year since 2014.

After setting a record at $270 million two years ago, the Dodgers dropped to $234 million last year.