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 Step aside, New York Yankees, you’re about to be passed up in the amount of money you spend of player salaries.
When the 2013 MLB season begins, the Los Angeles Dodgers will have the highest player payroll in the league. You have to go back to 1998 when the Orioles had the top Opening Day player payroll total of $70,408,134 while the Yankees were at #2 with $63,159,898 to find a club other than the Yankees at the top of the heap.
The Dodgers will also have the distinction in 2013 of having one of the highest total player payroll ever when we get back to play in April. The Yankees currently hold that position with the 2009 Opening Day player payroll of $209,081,577 2009 ($217,712,913 when accounting for inflation). The Dodgers are currently projected to have an Opening Day payroll of nearly $208 million when adjusting for money coming over from the Red Sox. That figure will rise well over that mark as Ronald Belisario and A.J. Ellis reach arbitration settlements or rulings.
The following data comes by way of the Associated Press:
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Dodgers 2013 projected player payroll
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Adrian Gonzalez
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$21,857,143
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Zack Greinke
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$21,000,000
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Carl Crawford
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$20,857,143
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Matt Kemp
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$20,250,000
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Josh Beckett
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$17,000,000
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Hanley Ramirez
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$15,500,000
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Andre Ethier
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$13,500,000
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Ted Lilly
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$13,166,667
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Clayton Kershaw
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$11,750,000
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Chad Billingsley
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$11,000,000
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Juan Uribe
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$7,295,910
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Chris Capuano
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$6,375,000
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Aaron Harang
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$6,000,000
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Brandon League
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$5,500,000
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Mark Ellis
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$5,250,000
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Matt Guerrier
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$4,711,499
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Jerry Hairston Jr.
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$3,750,000
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Yasiel Puig
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$3,714,286
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Hyun-Jin Ryu
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$3,333,333
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Nick Punto
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$1,500,000
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Skip Schumaker
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$1,500,000
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Ronald Belisario
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arbitration
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A.J. Ellis
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arbitration
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Total
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$214,810,981
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Adjustment for Boston trade
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$6,864,286
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Adjusted total
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$207,946,695
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NOTE: Includes salaries and pro-rated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income. For some players, parts of deferred signing bonuses and salaries are discounted to reflect present-day values. Does not include unsigned players on 40-man roster who are not eligible for salary arbitration
 Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
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