Following a winter in which many journeymen took cuts, a string of stars signed huge long-term deals during March and April. Signing bonuses can impact payroll calculations. Others who agreed to signing bonuses of $10 million or more included Alex Bregman, Jacob deGrom, Paul Goldschmidt, Clayton Kershaw, Manny Machado and A.J. The 2018 payroll figure finished at $4.227 billion for salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses, down from $4.245 billion in 2017. The players association calculated its opening-day average salary at $4,512,357, a $1,785 increase over 2018 but below the $4,525,704 average at the start of 2017.

Source: thestar April 24, 2019 00:00 UTC