Using the payroll of only the “active roster” is a ridiculous number which only works to hide the massive financial advantages these top 3 teams have over most of the rest of the league and pretend their payroll is lower than it actually is.

Other teams in MLB do not have $100m+ of money they can spend on players no longer on their roster, or to DFA players, or on the IL. These teams have the financial ability to make mistakes that other teams don’t.

If the Guardians spent $100m+ on players that were hurt or didn’t deserve to be on a MLB roster or used that money to trade for new players, they would be fielding a team full of minor leaguers.