There are numbers that are meant to scare you, and then there are numbers that are meant to flex. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ $169.4 million luxury-tax bill for 2025 falls squarely into the second category.
Yes, it’s the largest competitive balance tax payment in Major League Baseball history. Yes, it’s larger than the entire payrolls of a dozen MLB franchises. Yes, it officially vaults the Dodgers past the New York Yankees as the biggest luxury-tax payer since the system began in 2003.
And no — none of that is a problem. Because this is what winning looks like.