The Offishial Show: Why hasn't Marlins payroll gone up entering 2024?

Ely Sussman projects the Marlins' Opening Day payroll, then compares it to previous seasons and what other MLB teams are spending.

The methodology used is very similar to this projection from mid-November.

Last season, the Marlins sold 1,162,819 paid tickets to home games, by far their highest total of the Bruce Sherman ownership era. Earlier this month, they sold hundreds of thousands more while hosting the Caribbean Series at LoanDepot Park. Despite previous concerns that their lucrative local television deal could be in jeopardy due to Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy proceedings, that situation has since calmed down (at least for the 2024 season). On top of that, they continue to be one of Major League Baseball's revenue-sharing recipients.

So...where is all of this money going?

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Projecting 2024 Marlins Opening Day payroll

• Josh Bell—$16.5M
• Avisaíl García—$12M
• Luis Arraez—$10.6M
• Sandy Alcantara—$9.3M
• Tanner Scott—$5.7M
• Jesús Luzardo—$5.5M
• Jon Berti—$3.625M
• Matt Barnes—$2.75M (buyout)
• Jazz Chisholm Jr.—$2.625M
• Johnny Cueto—$2.5M (buyout)
• Jesús Sánchez—$2.1M
• Christian Bethancourt—$2.05M
• A.J. Puk—$1.8M
• Trevor Rogers—$1.53M
• JT Chargois—$1.285M
• Nick Gordon—$900k
• Anthony Bender—$770k
• Filling active roster with 12 pre-arb players at approx. $753.3k each—$9.04M

That adds up to $90.575M. Per Cot's Contracts, that number was $92.575M entering the 2023 season.

The Oakland Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates are spending significantly less on their projected rosters, but the Marlins could rank as low as 28th in MLB unless they make additions between now and Opening Day.

How do you feel about this? Do you think the Marlins should be required to spend at a certain level, or do you not care as long as the team is competitive?

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