ON TODAY'S SCORECARD
MLB’s Billion-Dollar Series

The most expensive series in MLB history began on Monday night in Hollywood, where the Dodgers were hosting the Mets in a matchup of financial behemoths.

A billion dollars on the diamond: The Dodgers and Mets' combined tax payrolls this season, including their estimated tax bills, is $1.07 billion, per Spotrac. That's the largest such figure ever, surpassing the previous record set last season by the same two teams ($1.025B).

• Consider this: Los Angeles will pay more this season just in taxes ($161.5M) than the bottom 12 teams in the league will each pay for their entire rosters. New York ($123.9M) will pay more than the bottom seven.

• Or, how about this: The combined 2026 salaries of the four players with the highest AAV in this series (Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Juan Soto, Bo Bichette) is more than the total payroll of 14 MLB teams.

Put another way: You could put MLB's nine lowest-spending teams on the field together ($1.04B) and they still wouldn't be paying as much as the Dodgers and Mets ($1.07B).

With the Playbook Hoops newsletters having concluded for the season, we will utilize this ‘Grinding Out The Profits’ section in the Coffee Club to share exclusive insight into the 2026 College Football season directly from the 2026 Playbook Football Preview Guide magazine. With that here is a noteworthy

‘STAT YOU WILL LIKE’:

BYU Cougars are 14-1 outright during the opening months of August and September the past three seasons since joining the
Big 12 conference.

The Flyers, Ducks and Kings clinched the NHL's final three playoff spots on Monday to complete the 16-team postseason field with three days remaining in the regular season.

Who's in? The following teams will be in the field when the playoffs begin this weekend. All that's left to determine is their seeding.

East: Hurricanes (111 points), Sabres (108), Lightning (106), Canadiens (106), Penguins (98), Bruins (98), Senators (97), Flyers (96)

West: Avalanche (117 points), Stars (110), Wild (102), Golden Knights (93), Oilers (91), Ducks (90) Mammoth (90), Kings (89)

The Preakness Stakes is shifting back one week on the calendar, creating more breathing room between Triple Crown races.

Traditionally run two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness will now be contested three weeks later—aligning it more closely with the five-week gap leading into the Belmont Stakes.

Why it matters:

• Horse welfare: Extra recovery time between races

• Field quality: Increases likelihood Derby runners return

• Competitive balance: Reduces grind of the current tight turnaround

The bottom line:
This is a long-debated, bettor-friendly move that could strengthen fields, improve performance, and potentially reshape Triple Crown dynamics going forward.