MLB
Clayton Kershaw and Mookie Betts Made More Money This Season Than the Entire Tampa Bay Rays World Series Roster
Luke Norris began his sportswriting career in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2020. The former Section Editor of the NFL and Motorsports sections, he now spends his time here in the role of Senior Writer-Programmer. His well-rounded sports knowledge allows him to cover the NFL, NBA, PGA Tour, MLB, boxing, WWE, and NASCAR for Sportscasting. Luke is an avid golfer who finds inspiration in the way sports can bring people together and provide a distraction from the real world. He hopes to provide a little entertainment or an escape from the real world with every article he writes, even if only for a few minutes. In addition to his work here at Sportscasting, Luke's work has appeared on The Sportster, Inquisitr, GiveMeSport, FanSided, Yahoo! Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated.
Get to know Luke Norris betterPublished20 Oct 2020
It’s safe to say that most baseball fans know the movie Moneyball, right? Or maybe you haven’t seen the movie but have read the book, which is much more accurate on how things actually went down. Either way, you likely know the story. The small-market Oakland A’s are trying to compete with high-payroll teams like the New York Yankees and so on and so forth. Well, the 2020 World Series has that kind of feel to it as the team with the third-lowest payroll this season, the Tampa Bay Rays, is set to take on the team with the second-highest payroll this season, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 2020 World Series is a true David vs. Goliath type of story as the Rays’ roster is full of players that not everyone knows all that well while the Dodgers’ roster consists of former MVPs, Cy Young winners, multiple-time All-Stars, and World Series champions.
But that’s the beauty of baseball. More than any other sport, on any given day, any team can win. But just for kicks, we took a look at the payrolls of both clubs and came across something quite astonishing. Did you know that the Dodgers’ two highest-paid players, Clayton Kershaw and Mookie Betts, combined to make more money in 2020 than all 28 players on the Rays’ World Series roster combined? Seriously, that’s a thing.
Clayton Kershaw and Mookie Betts combined to make more than $26 million with the Dodgers in 2020
Taking into account the adjusted salaries for the 2020 MLB season, which was shortened to 60 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the LA Dodgers’ total payroll this season was $107,917,397, which was the second-highest in baseball behind only the New York Yankees, who made it to the ALDS with a payroll of $109,439,081 before being eliminated by the Rays in five games.
Clayton Kershaw and Mookie Betts combined to make $26,308,641 in 2020, which is about 41.8% of the $63 million they were due to make combined before the pandemic hit.
As far as LA’s World Series roster is concerned, the 28 active players for the Dodgers combined to make $77,165,961.
The 28 players on the Rays’ World Series roster combined to make $23.62 million in 2020
As mentioned, the Tampa Bay Rays had the third-lowest payroll in Major League Baseball this season. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles came in lower.
The Rays’ total adjusted payroll in 2020 was $28,290,689. However, the 28 active players on Tampa Bay’s World Series roster combined to make just $23,621,315. We’ll save you the math trouble and just tell you that, combined, Clayton Kershaw and Mookie Betts made $2,687,326 more than the entire Rays’ roster for the Fall Classic. And here’s a bonus for you on that difference. Only three Tampa Bay players (Charlie Morton, Kevin Kiermaier, Blake Snell) cracked that amount.
Who is favored to win the 2020 World Series?
Seeing as how the Rays nearly blew a 3-0 lead in the ALCS against the Houston Astros and the Dodgers fought back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NLCS, LA actually enters the 2020 World Series as the favorite. OddsShark.com currently has the Dodgers sitting at -205 and the Rays at +175.
All contract information courtesy of Spotrac
