PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Phillies slugger Bryce Harper loves LA — well, at least the World Series champion Dodgers' freewheeling spending on their way to a nearly $320 million payroll.
A two-time NL MVP, Harper was blunt Friday ahead of a three-game series with the champs about those in baseball who whine about the Dodgers payroll and signing of Japanese stars.
“I don't know if people will like this,” Harper said, “but I feel like only losers complain about what they're doing. I think they're a great team and a great organization.”
Major League Baseball’s average salary broke the $5 million barrier on opening day for the first time, according to a study by The Associated Press.
The New York Mets, with Juan Soto’s record $61.9 million pay, led MLB for the third straight opening day with a $322.6 million payroll, just ahead of Dodgers at $319.5 million. Adding Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, the Dodgers boosted payroll by a big league-high $69 million from opening day last year.
Los Angeles’ payroll figure was held down by deferred payments. Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million salary was discounted to a present-day value of $28.2 million because it won’t be paid in full until 2035, causing him to be listed as the 18th-highest-paid player. Other Dodgers with deferred payments include Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, Scott, Will Smith and Snell.
The matchup between Harper and the NL East champion Phillies and Ohtani 's Dodgers had the city buzzing with another packed Citizens Bank Park.
Harper is in the seventh season of a a $330 million, 13-year contract, at the time the largest deal in baseball history. The Phillies have also been big spenders in recent seasons under owner John Middleton and reached the playoffs three straight seasons. Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler will earn $42 million as the second-highest paid player in the game. The Phillies opened with a $283.3 million payroll, third-highest in baseball.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said during the offseason he received emails from fans concerned over the sport’s lack of a salary cap following an offseason spending spree by the Los Angeles Dodgers that sparked increased attention over the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement in December 2027.
“We need to pay attention to it and need to determine whether there are things that can be done to allay those kinds of concerns and make sure we have a competitive and healthy game going forward," Manfred said in February.
Los Angeles had $353 million luxury tax payroll in winning last year's World Series and had to pay a $103 million tax.
“That’s why guys want to go there and play. L.A.’s a great city to play in, obviously,” Harper said. “They’re at the mecca of kind of the world of everything –- from food to nightlife to sports to the Dodgers to the Lakers to anybody. They’re going to continue to get guys, they’re going to pull guys from the sport. If that’s bullpen, or starting pitching, international players, anything like that, they’re doing what the Dodgers do.”
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Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper flips his bat after he hit a home run in seventh inning of an opening-day baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper, center, looks on from the dugout before a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper gestures after he singled during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Iran's top judge hinted at fast trials and executions for those who were detained in nationwide protests against the country's theocracy, even as activists said Wednesday that the death toll rose to levels unseen in decades with at least 2,572 people killed so far.
Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei made the comments about trials and executions in a video Tuesday, despite a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would “take very strong action” if executions take place.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the number of dead climbed to at least 2,571 early Wednesday. The figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
After Trump was informed on the number of deaths, he warned Iran's leaders that he was terminating any negotiations and would “act accordingly.”
Details of the crackdown began emerging Tuesday as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications countrywide when the protests broke out.
Here is the latest:
Major Middle East governments were discouraging the Trump administration from waging a war with Iran, fearing “unprecedented consequences” in the volatile region, an Arab Gulf diplomat said Wednesday.
The Cairo-based diplomat, who was given anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media, said major governments in the region including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabai and Pakistan have been “in constant contact” with the U.S. administration over a potential American strike on Iran that could explode into a “full-blown war.”
Such a war will “certainly” have dire repercussions “not only on the Middle East but also on the global economy," he said.
Samy Magdy contributed from Cairo.
Iranian state television said Wednesday’s mass funeral in Tehran would include 300 bodies of security force members and civilians. The funeral is expected to take place at Tehran University under heavy security.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, which is tracking the death toll, said more than 2,550 people have been killed, 2,403 protesters and 147 government-affiliated.
Twelve children were killed, along with nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests. More than 18,100 people have been detained, the group said.
Gauging the demonstrations and the death toll from abroad has grown more difficult and The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll given the communications being disrupted in the country.
Melanie Lidman contributed from Jerusalem.
Trump’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on countries that trade with Iran could impact India, an expert said, as New Delhi already faces existing 50% U.S. trade levies due its purchases of Russian oil.
Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, a senior economist at the Chintan Research Foundation in New Delhi, said the bigger risk is not India-Iran trade, but India’s access to the U.S. market as its exports to Iran are modest.
India mainly exports rice, tea, sugar, pharmaceuticals and electrical machinery to Iran, while importing dry fruits and chemical products. Textiles and garments, gems and jewelry and engineering goods are likely to be the most vulnerable sectors, he said.
Trump’s latest move also could affect India’s investments in Iran including the strategically important Chabahar port, which gives India a trade route to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe while bypassing Pakistan, Mukhopadhyay said.
Iran’s judiciary chief signals fast trials and executions for those detained in nationwide protests.
Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei made the comment in a video shared by Iranian state television on Wednesday.
He emphasized the need for swift action, saying delays would lessen the impact.
His remarks challenge Trump, who warned Iran about executions in an interview aired Tuesday.
Trump stated the U.S. would take strong action if Iran proceeded with executions. The situation highlights escalating tensions between the two countries over the handling of the protests.
Dozens of Pakistani students studying in Iran have returned home through a remote southwestern border crossing, a Pakistani immigration official said Wednesday.
Federal Investigation Agency spokesperson in Quetta city, Samina Raisani, said about 60 students crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday through Gabd border in Balochistan province with valid travel documents.
More students were expected to return through the same crossing later Wednesday, she said.
Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran, said Tuesday that Iranian universities had rescheduled exams and permitted international students to leave the country.
The satellite internet provider Starlink now offers free service in to people Iran who have access to the company's receivers, activists said Wednesday.
Mehdi Yahyanejad, a Los Angeles-based activist who helped get the units into Iran, told The Associated Press that the free service had started. Other activists also confirmed in messages online that the service was free.
Starlink has been the only way for Iranians to communicate with the outside world since authorities shut down the internet Thursday night as nationwide protests swelled and they began a bloody crackdown against demonstrators.
Starlink did not immediately acknowledge the decision.
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
