After several weeks of estimating the final amounts, official payroll and luxury tax figures for the Cubs and 29 other MLB teams have been released. With a total payroll of $237,199,519 million in 2019, the Cubs were one of six teams over $200 million and they came in behind only the $243,653,717 spent by Red Sox. By going a little more than $31 million over the $206 million threshold, the Cubs now owe a luxury tax penalty of $7.6 million.
That’s more than they have to spend, though, so they’re going to have to clear payroll space to afford it.