THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - The recession has hit baseball salaries.
Teams cut payrolls for their active rosters and disabled lists by $47 million from opening day in 2008 to the first day of this season, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. That comes out to a drop of 1.7 percent.
"Clubs were cautious all winter with regards to the economy and were concerned the economy might have an impact on club revenue," said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer. "The spending reflected that for many clubs."
The drop is the first since 2004 and just the second since the 1994-95 strike.
Looking at payroll team by team, 16 of the 30 major league clubs cut payroll. Among those who lowered spending - the mighty New York Yankees.
While the Yankees led the major leagues with a $201.4 million payroll, they trimmed salaries by $7.6 million from the start of last season. The difference is that while they added high-priced free agents C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, they also let Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu and Carl Pavano leave, watched Mike Mussina retire and more than halved pitcher Andy Pettitte's guaranteed pay.
Others cut more, led by San Diego ($30.9 million), the Chicago White Sox ($25.1 million), Detroit ($23.6 million) and Seattle ($19.1 million).
The 14 teams that increased salaries were led by American League champion Tampa Bay ($19.5 million), the Chicago Cubs ($16.5 million), Florida ($15.0 million) and World Series champion Philadelphia ($14.7 million).
"The company would have had every right to reduce the payroll until the new owner came," said Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, whose team is in the process of being sold from Sam Zell's Tribune Co. to a group headed by Tom Ricketts, a member of the founding family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.
Instead, the Cubs invested in switch-hitter Milton Bradley to try and break their more than century-long streak without a World Series title.
And while the 10 highest spenders lowered payroll by an average of $7.8 million, the 10 lowest raised spending by an average of $4.5 million, a small step toward commissioner Bud Selig's goal of closing the gap between rich and poor teams.
"We're seeing a continuation of the trend of mid- and small-market teams developing their own talent and keeping their own talent," DuPuy said, "and I think that's reflected in the totals that you see."
