Baseball is a sport that is supposed to favor the clubs with the largest payrolls.
Unlike other professional leagues, MLB does not have a salary cap, which caters to organizations who have owners willing to break the bank. That's why teams such as the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and Phillies are constantly competing for the World Series — they have the dollars to bring in the biggest names in the game.
But not every team that is in the hunt for a World Series in October is writing blank checks. The Tigers are proving that in 2024.
Detroit's rag-tag group of misfits is defying the odds this postseason. The Tigers went on an improbable run to make the playoffs, sneaking in as the final wild-card team in the American League. Now, after knocking off the Astros in the AL wild-card round, the Tigers are in the ALCS against the Guardians.
The Tigers' roster for the playoff has one of the lowest payrolls you will find. Here are more details on the contracts for the Detroit members participating in the playoffs.
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Tigers payroll 2024
The Tigers' 26-man roster for the 2024 playoffs has one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. The 26 players combined for a salary of $18.8 million this season.
That number is less than four individual Astros that faced the Tigers in the wild-card round — Josh Hader ($19 million), Justin Verlander ($22.5 million), Alex Bregman ($30.5 million) and Jose Altuve ($31.5 million).
The Detroit #Tigers 26-Man Wild Card roster combines for $18.8M of 2024 salary.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) October 2, 2024
62 MLB players earned more than that this season on their own.
It is slightly higher than the highest-paid Guardian, which is Jose Ramirez. The star third baseman makes $17 million in 2024.
How is it that Detroit has such a low payroll for the 2024 playoffs? A number of factors are in play.
For starters, the seven highest-paid members on the Tigers' payroll for 2024 aren't on the playoff roster.
Javy Baez, who makes $25 million, suffered a season-ending hip injury. Kenta Maeda, the highest-paid pitcher on the club, failed to make the postseason roster after an ugly showing this summer saw him pulled from the rotation. The rest are a mix of players who were traded away (Jack Flaherty, Mark Canha and Andrew Chafin), released (Shelby Miller) or retired (Miguel Cabrera).
2024 Detroit Tigers highest-paid players:
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) October 2, 2024
Javy Baez: $25M (season-ending injury)
Kenta Maeda: $14M (left off playoff roster)
Jack Flaherty: $9.3M (traded)
Miguel Cabrera: $8.0M (retired)
Mark Canha: $7.7M (traded)
Shelby Miller: $3.1M (released)
Andrew Chafin: $2.88M (traded)
That leaves the highest-paid player on the postseason roster as Colt Keith, who makes $2.83 million. He's one of only three players making at least $1 million this season, joining Tarik Skubal ($2.65 million) and Jake Rogers (1.7).
The other variable is that the Tigers are made up of a ton of homegrown talent that are incredibly young. Stars such as Casey Mize, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Spencer Torkelson are making just six figures due to being in the league for only a few seasons. The average age of Detroit's postseason roster is 25.7.
Now, the $18.8 million payroll is a tad misleading. The Tigers' total payroll for 2024 is roughly $98.5 million, according to Spotrac. Still, that ranks 26th out of the 30 baseball clubs and is the lowest among the teams that advanced out of the regular season.
The bottom line: The Tigers are playing their own version of "Moneyball" in 2024. We'll see how far the magic takes them this October.
