The Los Angeles Dodgers are back in the World Series for the first time since 2020. While many fans will bemoan that they should get there every year (“look at how much money they spend”), Los Angeles is one of the most consistent teams in the sport.

The team aims to sign players in their primes to lengthy contracts stretching into their late 30s, thus depressing most annual average values (AAV). Regardless, Los Angeles’s $355.85 million in total cap allocations is the most in the league.

The Dodgers also inked Japanese star Shohei Ohtani to an interesting contract laden with deferred payments. This allows the Dodgers to spend more now while dealing with the majority of the bill later.

Big earners – Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts

Ohtani earns the highest AAV of any player in the league: the 10-year, $700 million deal he signed ahead of the 2024 season nets him $70 annually.

Or does it? Los Angeles is actually only paying him $2 million a season over the length of his contract — the other $680 is deferred over the remainder of the century (à la Bobby Bonilla).

32-year-old shortstop Mookie Betts is the team’s second-highest-paid player. The former American League MVP signed a 12-year, $365 extension ($30.4 million AAV) ahead of the 2020 season to keep him under team control through 2033

Highest-earning position players

First baseman Freddie Freeman was the team’s marquee free-agent addition ahead of the 2022 campaign. The Dodgers poached the eight-time All-Star from the rival Atlanta Braves with a six-year, $162 million deal ($27 million AAV).

Teoscar Hernandez was somehow still available into March of this year. Los Angeles took the opportunity and signed the outfielder to a one-year, $23.5 million deal.

29-year-old catcher Will Smith has been a lynchpin of the Dodgers lineup since 2019. He signed a 10-year, $140 million extension ahead of the 2024 season.

Highest-earning pitchers

Ohtani wasn’t the Dodgers only marquee signing this year: the team inked fellow Japanese star Yohibobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million deal with a $27 million AAV. The deal increases in value over time – Yamamoto only earned $9 million this season.

Los Angeles traded for Tampa Bay Rays starter Tyler Glasnow last December and swiftly signed him to a five-year, $136.5 million extension ($27 million AAV). He’s currently injured and will miss the World Series.

World Series Game 1 starter Jack Flaherty was acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline. He’s currently finishing a one-year, $14 million deal.