Six teams project to have their payrolls exceed the $208 million Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold in 2020, and we’ve already heard rumors about some teams that are looking to shed salary as a result.
The six teams over the tax threshold as of December 14, according to Spotrac.com are:
*Note: In recent days, the Mets restructured Yoenis Cespedes’ contract that was scheduled to pay him the equivalent of $29.5 million in 2020. Speculatively, that restructuring stands to reduce the Mets’ payroll substantially in 2020. Spotrac’s tracking of the Mets’ salary situation had not been updated at the time this article was posted, perhaps because they are still awaiting specifics of Cespedes’ new contract.