NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball’s biggest spenders are stumbling, slowed by injuries and scrambling to patch rosters with help for battered bullpens and other positions ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
Opening the season with a top payroll of $326 million, the New York Mets have a 1 1/2-game NL East lead but are 17-20 since mid-June.
Just $200,000 behind them in spending, according to Major League Baseball’s figures, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers are four games ahead in the NL West but are 5-13 since July 3.
Third at $294 million, the defending AL champion New York Yankees blew a seven-game division lead and trail AL East-leading Toronto by 5 1/2 games after a 22-28 skid that started in late May.
“It is in a lot of ways a game of survival,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.