Playoff payrolls: 2 missing Dodgers nearly total Rays’ money
By RONALD B:LUM
AP Baseball Writer
Two missing Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers earn nearly as much as the entire Tampa Bay Rays’ major league roster heading into the playoffs. The defending champion Dodgers enter the postseason with more than three times the payroll of the Rays, the team they beat in last year’s World Series. The Dodgers had a major league-high $260.9 million payroll on Aug. 31. AL East champion Tampa Bay was 26th at $76.6 million. That is just $7.6 million more than earned this year by Trevor Bauer and Clayton Kershaw, both unavailable to the Dodgers this week. Bauer is on paid administrative leave since July 2 under MLB’s joint domestic violence and sexual assault policy. Kershaw went on the injured list last weekend with left forearm discomfort.
