There’s stupid money — and then there’s whatever this is.
The Mets travel to Dodger Stadium to take on the back-to-back reigning World Series champion Dodgers for a three-game series this week—and with it arrives something the sport has never seen before: a combined payroll tab for both teams that clears $1.09 billion.
Without further ado, we give you the billion dollar series.
The quintessential example of what happens when wealth meets urgency.
Since buying the Mets in the fall of 2020, owner Steve Cohen has spent money like time is chasing him. The franchise hasn’t won a World Series in 40 years. Since taking over he’s poured money into the roster. The payroll has ballooned and the expectations have followed.
In Cohen’s five years as owner, the results have been uneven at best. Just two playoff appearances over that span and not a single NL East division title. Last season, equipped with the second-highest payroll in the league, they finished 83-79, collapsing to the finish line, eliminated on the final day of the season.
The Mets payroll this year is over $380 million with an estimated tax of $136 million-plus. That’s a total of over $516 million for a team that is currently dead last in the NL East.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are what happens when wealth and vision meet in the middle.
Their 2026 CBT payroll number of $413.5 million isn’t reckless; it’s engineered. Los Angeles has won 12 division titles in 13 years. Five World Series appearances in nine years. Three championships in six seasons. They currently have the best record in baseball. They are a money printing and title clinching machine.
Owner Mark Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, runs a privately held global financial services firm worth more than $345 billion. The Dodgers payroll alone this season is more than the White Sox, Rays, Guardians and Marlins combined. Their estimated tax bill this season of $169 million is higher than the total payroll of 12 different MLB teams.
Both owners have spent on the biggest names in baseball over the last six years. Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers for $700 million. Juan Soto beat that record with a $765 million deal.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 2025 World Series MVP was snatched up for $325 million. Not to be outdone, Cohen inked Francisco Lindor to a $341 million deal.
This winter, Cohen and Walter were involved in a bidding war for the services of free agent All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker. The Dodgers won, signing him to a four-year, $240 million contract that earned him the highest AAV deal in history at $57 million, after factoring in deferrals.
What did Cohen do in response? He signed the next best free agent on the market, infielder Bo Bichette to a three-year, $126 million deal that was the fourth-largest AAV deal in history.
When the first-pitch is thrown on Monday, remember what this series is really about. The most expensive matchup in MLB history will not just be about the overpriced stars on the field, but a case study in how money behaves under pressure.
The Mets are still searching for the right financial equation.
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