payroll

Ohtani’s historic deferrals have kept the team’s actual payroll levels flexible, and seemingly made club executives more willing to pay luxury tax penalties long-term.

Mr. Perez could afford slim markups because he cut corners on required expenses such as workers’ compensation payments and payroll taxes, according to interviews and two decades of criminal cases against him.

Prosecutors at the time said he under-reported wages and revenue so as to avoid payroll, income and sales taxes.

And Miami’s loss — to a team whose salary is 35% of its payroll — means the best-paid team won’t win the MLS Cup for the seventh straight year and the 12th time in 13 seasons.

Either way, the prospect of lower revenue raised the prospect of a lower payroll.