Rangers Pay into CBT for Third Straight Year, but for Humorous Amount

The Texas Rangers are trimming payroll for 2026 in part because of paying into the competitive balance tax for three straight years. Their 2025 bill is kinda funny.

Texas Rangers owner Ray C. Davis smiles on field after the win against the Baltimore Orioles in game three of the ALDS for the 2023 MLB playoffs at Globe Life Field. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers have talked about payroll a lot this offseason. The Rangers are intent on competing while working with a smaller budget in 2026.

That desire is driven in part by ownership after two straight seasons of failing to make the playoffs after winning the 2023 World Series. The decision is part of what drove the Rangers and manager Bruce Bochy to part ways after three seasons.

The financial reset is also driven by the Rangers paying into the competitive balance tax for a third straight season. Texas knew that was possible after taking on salary at the trade deadline but didn’t learn the tax amount until recently. And the amount the Rangers are paying, based on their payroll discussions this offseason, is kind of funny.

Rangers 2025 CBT Payment

The final CBT payrolls with the Dodgers paying record taxes pic.twitter.com/W8B78F3Mkt

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 19, 2025

On Friday night, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale posted the final CBT payroll for every MLB team, from the Los Angeles Dodgers ($417 million) to the Miami Marlins ($86.9 million). For teams that pay more than $241 million they owe a tax based on the overage.

The Dodgers, for instance, paid an enormous overage based on their payroll — $169.3 million. That’s based on 50% of the overage as a three-time CBT offender and an additional surcharge of +60% for going $60 million over the CBT limit. The Dodgers likely don’t care after winning two straight World Series.

Nine teams had to pay the overage, one of which was the Rangers. Their CBT payment, based on a payroll of $241.38 million, was $190,483. They were the only team that had to pay the overage that paid less than $1 million on the overage. Given how the Rangers have talked about payroll this offseason, the notion of paying less than $200,000 in tax is humorous. It’s less humorous considering it didn’t lead to a playoff berth.

In 2023, the Rangers paid into the CBT after their $242 million payroll went over the $233 million limit. At the time, Texas was a first-time offender and only had to pay a 20% tax on the overage. In 2024, the Rangers’ tax bill was over $10 million after their payroll soared to $268 million, making them a second-time offender and boosting the tax rate to 30%. The tax for last season was 50% percent, but because the Rangers were so close to the limit the percentage didn’t have much of an impact.

Entering 2026 Texas has a projected total tax payroll of $185.7 million, per Spotrac. That projection doesn’t include the contract terms for relievers Alexis Diaz and Chris Martin. Texas still has $58.2 million in tax space to play with. That’s more than enough space to avoid paying into the CBT next season.