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MLB
Chicago Cubs 2025 Luxury Tax Payroll
The Chicago Cubs 2025 tax salary table, including team tax space, and complete breakdowns of player tax salaries and bonuses.
Projected Total Tax
$227,017,252 / 11th
Est. Tax Bill
$0
2025 Active Roster
| Player (28) | Pos | Exp | Options Minor | Type | Luxury Tax | Luxury Tax % League CBT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Swanson
1 Dansby Swanson
|
SS | 8.047 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$25,285,714 | 10.49% |
|
Happ
2 Ian Happ
|
LF | 7.036 | n/a |
Extension
|
$20,333,333 | 8.44% |
|
Taillon
3 Jameson Taillon
|
SP | 8.110 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$17,000,000 | 7.05% |
|
Suzuki
4 Seiya Suzuki
|
DH | 3.000 | 3 |
Free Agent
Foreign Professional |
$17,000,000 | 7.05% |
|
Tucker
5 Kyle Tucker
|
RF | 5.079 |
Arbitration 3
|
$16,500,000 | 6.85% | |
|
Boyd
6 Matthew Boyd
|
SP | 8.057 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$15,000,000 | 6.22% |
|
Imanaga
7 Shota Imanaga
|
SP | 1.000 | n/a |
Free Agent
Foreign Professional |
$13,250,000 | 5.50% |
|
Hoerner
8 Nico Hoerner
|
2B | 5.014 |
Extension
Arbitration |
$11,666,667 | 4.84% | |
|
Kelly
9 Carson Kelly
|
C | 6.161 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$6,250,000 | 2.59% |
|
Turner
10 Justin Turner
|
3B | 14.045 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$6,000,000 | 2.49% |
|
Rea
11 Colin Rea
|
SP | 5.057 |
Free Agent
|
$5,000,000 | 2.07% | |
|
Kittredge
12 Andrew Kittredge
|
RP | 6.070 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$3,188,097 | 1.32% |
|
Soroka
13 Michael Soroka
|
RP | 6.009 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$2,854,833 | 1.18% |
|
Thielbar
14 Caleb Thielbar
|
RP | 6.131 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$2,750,000 | 1.14% |
|
Castro
15 Willi Castro
|
2B | 5.017 |
Arbitration 3
|
$2,030,131 | 0.84% | |
|
Rogers
16 Taylor Rogers
|
RP | 8.145 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$1,870,968 | 0.78% |
|
Keller
17 Brad Keller
|
RP | 6.062 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$1,500,000 | 0.62% |
|
Pomeranz
18 Drew Pomeranz
|
RP | 11.021 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$1,282,258 | 0.53% |
|
Civale
19 Aaron Civale
|
RP | 5.058 |
Arbitration 3
|
$1,204,308 | 0.50% | |
|
McGuire
20 Reese McGuire
|
C | 4.155 |
Free Agent
|
$1,024,194 | 0.43% | |
|
Busch
21 Michael Busch
|
1B | 1.045 | 2 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$780,500 | 0.32% |
|
Assad
22 Javier Assad
|
RP | 2.027 | 2 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$773,133 | 0.32% |
|
Crow-Armstrong
23 Pete Crow-Armstrong
|
CF | 0.170 | 2 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$771,000 | 0.32% |
|
Palencia
24 Daniel Palencia
|
RP | 0.159 | 2 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$682,365 | 0.28% |
|
Shaw
25 Matt Shaw
|
3B | 3 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$661,935 | 0.27% | |
|
Alcantara
26 Kevin Alcantara
|
OF | 0.005 | 1 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$223,077 | 0.09% |
|
Wicks
27 Jordan Wicks
|
RP | 1.037 | 3 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$134,838 | 0.06% |
|
Ballesteros
28 Moisés Ballesteros
|
C | 3 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$122,580 | 0.05% |
2025 Injured List
Salaries from players who have been placed on the injured list, still counting against the payroll.
| Player (5) | Pos | Exp | Options Minor | Type | Luxury Tax | Luxury Tax % League CBT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Steele
1 Justin Steele
|
SP | 3.143 |
Arbitration 2
Super Two |
$6,550,000 | ||
|
Brasier
2 Ryan Brasier
|
RP | 7.094 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$3,000,000 | 1.24% |
|
Amaya
3 Miguel Amaya
|
C | 1.130 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$782,500 | 0.32% | |
|
Horton
4 Cade Horton
|
SP | 3 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$580,215 | 0.24% | |
|
Caissie
5 Owen Caissie
|
OF | 3 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$138,924 | 0.06% |
2025 Retained
Cap breakdowns for players who have cap retained. All count against the team's payroll.
| Player (12) | Pos | Exp | Options Minor | Type | Luxury Tax | Luxury Tax % League CBT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pressly
1 Ryan Pressly
|
RP | 11.039 | n/a |
Retained
|
$9,200,000 | |
|
Berti
2 Jon Berti
|
2B | 5.168 | n/a |
Retained
|
$2,000,000 | |
|
Bellinger
3 Cody Bellinger
|
CF | 7.160 | n/a |
Retained
|
$1,666,667 | |
|
Pearson
4 Nate Pearson
|
RP | 4.005 | 1 |
Retained
|
$1,350,000 | |
|
Merryweather
5 Julian Merryweather
|
RP | 4.109 |
Retained
|
$1,225,000 | ||
|
Flexen
6 Chris Flexen
|
SP | 4.099 | n/a |
Retained
|
$774,194 | |
|
Brujan
7 Vidal Brujan
|
2B | 2.014 |
Retained
|
$547,608 | ||
|
Cabrera
8 Genesis Cabrera
|
RP | 5.011 | n/a |
Retained
|
$217,742 | |
|
Kriske
9 Brooks Kriske
|
RP | 0.121 | 1 |
Retained
|
$183,871 | |
|
Lopez
10 Nicky Lopez
|
SS | 5.139 | n/a |
Retained
|
$132,527 | |
|
Workman
11 Gage Workman
|
3B | 5 |
Retained
|
$126,667 | ||
|
Poteet
12 Cody Poteet
|
SP | 2.095 | 2 |
Retained
|
$2,667 |
2025 Minor
Salaries from players currently in the system. denotes a buried salary that counts against the payroll.
| Player (12) | Pos | Exp | Options Minor | Type | Luxury Tax | Luxury Tax % League CBT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Morgan
1 Eli Morgan
|
RP | 3.091 | 1 |
Arbitration 1
|
$950,000 | 0.39% |
|
Thompson
2 Keegan Thompson
|
RP | 3.006 |
Arbitration 1
|
$850,000 | ||
|
Brown
3 Ben Brown
|
SP | 1.000 | 2 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$692,809 | 0.29% |
|
Hodge
4 Porter Hodge
|
RP | 0.125 | 3 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$676,279 | 0.28% |
|
Miller
5 Tyson Miller
|
RP | 1.085 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$317,892 | ||
|
Roberts
6 Ethan Roberts
|
RP | 2.075 | 2 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$228,817 | 0.09% |
|
Cosgrove
7 Tom Cosgrove
|
RP | 1.085 | 1 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$162,699 | |
|
Neely
8 Jack Neely
|
RP | 0.034 | 2 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$123,900 | 0.05% |
|
Santana
9 Carlos Santana
|
1B | 14.115 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$114,409 | 0.05% |
|
Hollowell
10 Gavin Hollowell
|
RP | 0.095 | 1 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$61,290 | 0.03% |
|
Fulmer
11 Michael Fulmer
|
RP | 7.157 | n/a |
Free Agent
|
$37,634 | |
|
Little
12 Luke Little
|
RP | 1.020 | 2 |
Pre-Arbitration
|
$16,344 | 0.01% |
2025 Luxury Tax Payroll Totals
| Competitive Balance Tax Threshold | $241,000,000 | |
| Tax Payroll | $231,124,468 | - |
|
Tax Bill
This team was a tax repeater at 30%.
|
$0 | - |
|
Total Allocations
This team is the combined value of tax payroll allocations plus the tax bill.
|
$231,124,468 | - |
Glossary
First-Time Payor:
- 20% for exceeding by $20M or less
- 32% for exceeding by $20M-$40M
- 62.5% for exceeding by $40M-$60M
- 80% for exceeding by $60M+
Second-Time Payor:
- 30% for exceeding by $20M or less
- 42% for exceeding by $20M-$40M
- 75% for exceeding by $40M-$60M
- 90% for exceeding by $60M+
Third-Time (or more) Payor:
- 50% for exceeding by $20M or less
- 62% for exceeding by $20M-$40M
- 95% for exceeding by $40M-$60M
- 110% for exceeding by $60M+
Teams are considered “tax repeaters” when they exceed the threshold in consecutive seasons. They revert back to First-Time status after completing one season below the threshold.
Luxury Tax salaries are based on the Average Annual Value of all 40-man roster contracts, guaranteed contracts on the 60-day IL, retained salary from trades or releases, buried contracts in the minor leagues, a player benefits stipend, and the required pre-arbitration bonus pool contribution.
Players who are acquired or have contracts purchased during the season are calculated at a rate based on the amount of league days remaining in the season. If multiple years remain on the contract at the time of acquisition, the AAV is recalculated based on the total guaranteed money remaining.
Pre-Arbitration Players (0-3 years of service) are currently estimated at $820,000 ($40k above the $780,000 MLB minimum) Arbitration Salaries (3-6 years of service) are currently estimated based on the level of service (Arbitration 1-4), and Spotrac’s current Market Valuation for that player.
Player Benefits account for insurance, room & board stipends, transportation fees, etc…
The MLB Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool is a $50 million pot of money created in the 2022 CBA to reward top-performing young players (under three years of service time) who are not yet eligible for salary arbitration. It's funded by all 30 teams, split into award bonuses and a statistical pool based on a version of Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
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