Yankees-Dodgers World Series: Money can buy you a championship, after all

They say that money can’t buy you happiness. Don’t try selling that line to fans of the Yankees and Dodgers.

The two teams in this year’s World Series rank Nos. 2 and 3 in MLB payrolls this season, with the Dodgers at an estimated $351.7 million and the Yankees at $314.8 million.

The Mets, who lost to the Dodgers in the NLCS, were first at $356.2 million.

These payroll totals are calculated for MLB’s luxury-tax purposes by Cot’s Contracts, a website that tracks such numbers.

The Dodgers’ total would have been much higher had superstar Shohei Ohtani not agreed to defer without interest a whopping $680 million of the record 10-year, $700 million contract he signed before this season.

“Dodger fans, thank you for welcoming me to your team,” Ohtani said in a statement on the day he signed. “I can say 100 percent that you, the Dodger organization and I share the same goal: To bring World Series parades to the streets of Los Angeles.”

Ohtani’s decision allowed the Dodgers to sign pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto for 12 years and $325 million (plus a posting fee of more than $50 million to his Japanese team).

That’s nearly $1.1 billion for two players.

Was it money for nothing? Quite the opposite. The Dodgers had the best record in baseball, Ohtani is likely to be the NL MVP and Yamamoto had an effective rookie season despite some injuries.

Outfielder Mookie Betts is another Dodger with an annual salary of more than $30 million. Betts’ salary for 2024 is $30.42 million as part of a 12-year, $365 million pact he agreed to in 2020.

The Yankees aren’t exactly paupers, either. They have the likely AL MVP in Aaron Judge, who signed a nine-year, $360 million contract to stay in the Bronx before the 2023 season.

The Yankees also have World Series Game 1 starter Gerrit Cole, who signed a nine-year, $324 million free-agent contract before the 2020 season, and Giancarlo Stanton, who agreed to a 13-year, $325 million deal with the Marlins before the 2015 season. The Yankees assumed about $260 million of what was left on that contract when they acquired Stanton from the Marlins in December 2017.

Juan Soto, whom the Yankees picked up in a trade with San Diego last offseason, has a $31 million salary in 2024. Soto will be a free agent after the World Series and may be looking at a contract that would rival Ohtani’s.

Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who joined the Yankees in a July trade from the Marlins (who are MLB paupers compared to the Dodgers and Yankees), said he immediately noticed the differences in coming to a high-payroll team.

“I just feel like, if the owner is invested in winning, that culture is picked up by the players,” Chisholm said. “All the players feel like when the owner is trying to get the best players and put the best players out there, put the best staff out there, put the best medical team out there, they feel more inclined to go out there for their best to win. I feel like they give you all that to tell you, ‘Hey, now you can go out there and do your thing.’ And I think that’s amazing.”

The Yankees and Dodgers do have some key pieces on the lower end of the pay scale.

For the Yankees, reliever Jake Cousins is making the major-league minimum of $740,000. Rookie catcher Austin Wells’ salary is $750,000, as is that of potential Game 4 starter Luis Gil, also a rookie.

For the Dodgers, centerfielder Andy Pages makes the minimum. Closer Blake Treinen, who closed out the NLCS against the Mets, has a salary of $1 million.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.