Dodgers payroll breakdown 2026: How Kyle Tucker's $240 million contract could help lead to 2027 lockout

Anyone anticipating a quieter offseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers after a second consecutive World Series win was mistaken.

In 2024, the Dodgers followed up a championship by adding Blake Snell. A year later, they won the World Series again and added both Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz, inking Tucker to a massive four-year, $240 million contract.

Tucker chose the Dodgers over the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays, and at $60 million per year, it’s not hard to see why. The four-time All-Star gladly accepted a short-term deal at that value, giving L.A. A luxury elite bat in its lineup as the franchise pursues a three-peat.

Here’s a closer look at the Dodgers’ 2026 payroll with Tucker and how it compares to the rest of MLB.

MORE: Full details of Kyle Tucker's contract

Dodgers 2026 payroll

The Dodgers are actually paying players $249.3 million in 2026, assuming Tucker’s non-deferred money is spread evenly over the four years of his contract. That ranks seventh in MLB, behind the Philadelphia Phillies, Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, Mets, Astros and Yankees.

While most of Tucker’s contract isn’t deferred, deferrals are the biggest factor in keeping that figure as low as it is. Of Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million salary, $68 million is deferred in 2026 — as it is for all 10 years of his contract — meaning he is making just $2 million in cash that season.

The Dodgers’ payroll for luxury-tax purposes is a more accurate measure of what they are effectively paying for their roster, as the present-day value of deferred deals still counts toward the tax. For example, Ohtani’s salary counts as more than $46 million toward the tax because that is the present-day value of his deal when considering what a $70 million salary from 2034–43 would be worth today.

The Dodgers’ luxury-tax payroll is a whopping $413.6 million, $96 million more than any other team. With the tax threshold set at $244 million, the Dodgers are operating in an entirely different stratosphere. They also owe $1.08 billion in deferred money across the contracts currently on their payroll.

Kyle Tucker deferred contract

Only $30 million of Tucker's $240 million deal is deferred, meaning he will average $52.5 million in cash over the next four seasons. The present-day value of Tucker's contract is $57.18 million per year, so that is the number that counts toward the luxury tax for the Dodgers.

MORE: Tracking all the moves made in the MLB offseason

Could Dodgers spending help cause a lockout in 2027?

Many believed MLB was already headed toward a lockout after the 2026 season, when the league's current collective bargaining agreement expires. After all, the last expiration of a CBA resulted in a more than three-month lockout, and many of the tensions between players and owners have only intensified.

With the Dodgers winning back-to-back championships and continuing to boast a massively inflated payroll, it's expected that the league and owners will push for some form of a salary cap. That could be a non-starter for the players, who believe a cap would artificially limit salaries.

While many owners a justifiably criticized for not investing in their team as much as they could, owners could also point out that dumping $60 million per year on someone like Tucker to be a third or fourth-best player on a roster just is not possible for most teams. That's unlikely to move the players, and the possibility of a lengthy standoff is strong. 

MORE: Projecting the Dodgers' lineup with Kyle Tucker

Highest-paid Dodgers players

Here are the eight highest-paid Dodgers by cash in 2026:

If that doesn't sound like an accurate depiction of how the Dodgers have spent over the last few years, that is because it's not. Here are the eight highest-paid Dodgers by average annual value, ignoring deferrals:

The Dodgers have nine players on deals worth at least $20 million per year, including Teoscar Hernandez, but they are actually only paying three players $20 million or more in 2025 due to deferrals.

MORE: What's next for the Mets after missing out on Kyle Tucker?

Payrolls for all 30 MLB Teams

Here's a look at each MLB team's cash payroll for 2026 and their payroll toward the luxury tax: