The Dodgers have two of the best free agents on the market in closer Kenley Jansen and third baseman Justin Turner, but the franchise’s mountainous debt could make it difficult to re-sign either. The club will trim payroll in 2017 as it seeks to reduce debt in order to comply with Major League Baseball rules, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
After combining for a league-high $1.181 billion (including $112MM in luxury-tax payments) in end-of-season payrolls in their first four years under Guggenheim Baseball Management, the Dodgers are “hundreds of millions in debt,” a source said. “We’re not talking about, ‘Let’s reduce our payroll by $40 million and we’ll be compliant,'” the source commented.
Franchises must comply with MLB’s debt service rule within five years of new ownership taking over. The rule “limits debt to no more than 12 times annual revenue, minus expenses,” writes Shaikin. If a team is in violation, the commissioner has 16 options to discipline that club, including requiring approval of expenditures and issuing suspensions to ownership and/or management. Rob Manfred isn’t worried he’ll have to take such drastic measures with the Dodgers, though.