MLB 2004 Payroll - Bang for the buck analysis!

[josebach]

I thought it would be interesting to compare team payrolls to how they are currently ranked. Which team is offering the most bank for the buck through the first half of the season?

Salary Rank, Team, Total Payroll, MLB rank
1 New York Yankees $184,193,950 - 1st
2 Boston Red Sox $127,298,500 - t5th
3 Anaheim Angels $100,534,667 - 15th
4 New York Mets $96,660,970 - t16th
5 Philadelphia Phillies $93,219,167 - t10th
6 Los Angeles Dodgers $92,902,001 - t5th
7 Chicago Cubs $90,560,000 - 8th
8 Atlanta Braves $90,182,500 - t16th
9 St. Louis Cardinals $83,228,333 - 2nd
10 San Francisco Giants $82,019,166 - t10th
11 Seattle Mariners $81,515,834 - 27th
12 Houston Astros $75,397,000 - t18th
13 Arizona Diamondbacks $69,780,750 - t28th
14 Colorado Rockies $65,445,167 - 26th
15 Chicago White Sox $65,212,500 - t12th
16 Oakland Athletics $59,425,667 - t5th
17 San Diego Padres $55,384,833 - 9th
18 Texas Rangers $55,050,417 - 3rd
19 Minnesota Twins $53,585,000 - 4th
20 Baltimore Orioles $51,623,333 - 25th
21 Toronto Blue Jays $50,017,000 - t23rd
22 Kansas City Royals $47,609,000 - t28th
23 Detroit Tigers $46,832,000 - 22nd
24 Cincinnati Reds $46,615,250 - t12th
25 Florida Marlins $42,143,042 - t18th
26 Montreal Expos $41,197,500 - 30th
27 Cleveland Indians $34,319,300 - 21st
28 Pittsburgh Pirates $32,227,929 - t23rd
29 Tampa Bay Devil Rays $29,556,667 - 20th
30 Milwaukee Brewers $27,528,500 - t12th

So far I'd have to say the big winners this year would be Texas, Minnesota and Oakland.



*These payrolls were compiled at the beginning of the season and are subject to change.

*Rank is based on ESPN's rankings:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/standings ... false&st=2

(edited to account for ties)

[JOEG]

This is very interesting. I know we give the Yankees a lot of flack about buying a championship, which they do, but at least they buy the right players, not like the Mets! Ouch proud to be a fan or the underspeding Twins... shows so much more talent and heart

[LBJackal]

I wouldn't say they buy the right players..........

Giambi isn't helping too much and is a huge waste of money ($76M for the next 4 years - assuming they buyout his contract for 2009 which would be another $22M), Jeter is OK but not worth half what he makes, Contreras is being paid way too much, so is Kevin Brown.

They overpay, but they they do it with so many players that they are still successful. I would hardly call that "buying the right players". It's a sure-fire way of guaranteeing success, but it costs a lot.

[Amazinz]

This is very interesting. I know we give the Yankees a lot of flack about buying a championship, which they do, but at least they buy the right players, not like the Mets! Ouch proud to be a fan or the underspeding Twins... shows so much more talent and heart

Don't forget that Mets salary # takes into account Fat Mo.

[JOEG]

I just meant that at least they usually finish top four, so they get a good return on their overspending.

I love baseball but it's just not fair and is really close to ruining the sport, however when the Twins are out it's sure fun to cheer against the Yankees.

[Aggie_Eric98]

18 Texas Rangers $55,050,417 - 3rd

Got to love seeing that...

[josebach]

It looks like so far, $100 million has bought the Yanks a half game over the Cards. We need to do this again at the end of the year.

[buffalobillsrul2002]

What about Milwaukee? Not a lot of talent, but they are hanging around in the wildcard race.

[JOEG]

I love baseball, but I think this is reason 1 thru 180 million that Football is so exciting and entertaining......

[Pedantic]

I love baseball, but I think this is reason 1 thru 180 million that Football is so exciting and entertaining......

Football exciting and entertaining? While it occasionally holds my interest, it is nowhere near baseball, IMO. Nothing else is fair, why should baseball be "fair," too? To me the football season is about as exciting as rolling a pair of dice--and about as random. Time to play pin the tail on the Superbowl winner! OK, put your blindfolds on!

I like that in baseball, if teams spend wisely and manage talent wisely, they can succeed, but if they don't it's not because it's "some other team's turn to win," but, rather, it's because the team itself failed. No need to keep things "fair"--if a team wins in baseball, it's because they were truly the better team, not because God shook his Magic 8-Ball and decided that to keep things "fair" the Seahawks should win it all.

I hope baseball doesn't start going the way of the "turnstile" NFL.

(BTW, the same thoughts hold true for me with fantasy football and fantasy baseball.)