Belt-tightening by baseball owners cut the total...

Belt-tightening by baseball owners cut the total major league payroll by more than $12 million in 1987, according to documents prepared for the clubs.

Major league players earned $295,791,862 last season, not including bonuses for postseason awards, down from the $308,013,156 they made in 1986.

Figures compiled by the Player Relations Committee and distributed to the major league teams show that the New York Yankees had the highest payroll at $18,569,714, about $4.2 million more than any other club.

The Atlanta Braves, who had the highest payroll in 1986 at $17.9 million, dropped to $14.4 million.

The Dodgers were third at $14.3 million and paid $2.2 million to players whose contracts were bought out. The Angels were 10th at $13.0 million, including a major league high $917,000 in performance bonuses. The Seattle Mariners had the lowest payroll at $5.6 million.

The average salary decreased from $410,517 in 1986 to $402,094 in 1987, according to the committee.