The Samsung Lions led Korean baseball in payroll in the 2025 season, with all 10 clubs in the league staying under the salary cap. The data released by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on Thursday showed that the Lions topped all teams with a payroll of just over 13.2 billion won ($8.9 million). The KBO introduced the salary cap in the 2023 season to ensure more competitive balance. For 2025, the cap was set at just over 13.7 billion won. The payroll is the sum of the annual salaries for the 40 highest-paid players on each club, excluding rookies, who each earn a league minimum 30 million won, and foreign players, who are paid in U.S. dollars. The Lions finished fourth in the regular season and advanced to the penultimate stage of the postseason in October. The LG Twins, who had the best regular-season record and also won the Korean Series title, ranked second in payroll with a little more than 13.1 billion won. The Kiwoom Heroes, who finished last in the standings, also spent the least amount on player salaries with a bit under 4.4 billion won. The Heroes and the NC Dinos (8.9 billio