The Diamondbacks went into 2025 with an Opening Day payroll of just under $187MM, representing yet another new high for the club that had already bumped its payroll from roughly $116.1MM in 2023 to $163.3MM in 2024.
In a normal situation, paying employees not to work would be considered operating a 'ghost payroll,' although the CTA was just trying to make the best of it.