There is an old saying that money can buy championships. But that is a myth, possibly born from the frustration of fans who think their team is not doing enough to win.
If one looks at the divisional winners, wild card teams and those just out of this year's races, we have a wide berth in salary, salary increase and making the playoffs. Per Cot's Baseball contracts:
Atlanta won the NL East. Its' payroll went down 3.7 percent to $90 million or approximately $3.1 million per player.
Boston won the AL East. Its' payroll went down 14 percent to $150 million or approximately $5 million per player.
Detroit won the AL Central. Its' payroll went up 11.5% to $148.3 million or approximately $5.7 million per player.
Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL West. Its' payroll jumped 128.6 percent to $223 million or approximately $7.2 million per player.
Oakland won the AL West. Its' payroll went up 14.8 percent to $61.9 million or approximately $2.1 million per player.
Cincinnati is in the playoffs. Its' payroll went up 25.4 percent to $110 million or approximately $4 million per player.
Cleveland made the playoffs. Its' payroll went up 16.6 percent to $77 million or approximately $2.5 million per player.
Pittsburgh made the playoffs. Its' payroll went up 28.6 percent to $66.8 million or approximately $2.2 million per player.
St. Louis is in the playoffs. Its' payroll went up 4.2 percent to $116.5 million or approximately $4 million per player.
Tampa Bay made the playoffs. Its' payroll went down 2.7 percent to $62 million or approximately $2.3 million per player.
Teams that were in contention like Kansas City had its payroll climb 26 percent to $81 million or approximately $3 million per player and Washington had its payroll increase 25 percent to $118 million or approximately $4 million per player.
The lowest 2013 payrolls were:
1. Houston $26 million
2. Miami $38 million
3. TAMPA $62 million
4. OAKLAND $62 million
5. PITTSBURGH $66.8 million
6. San Diego $68.3 million
7. Colorado $74.4 million
8. CLEVELAND $78 million
9. Kansas City $81 million
10. Minnesota $82 million
Forty (40) percent of the lowest payrolls made the playoffs this year.
Of the highest 2013 payrolls:
1. New York Yankees $228 million
2. LOS ANGELES DODGERS $223 million
3. Philadelphia $159.5 million
4. BOSTON $150.6 million
5. DETROIT $148.3 million
6. Los Angeles Angels $141 million
7. San Francisco $136.9 million
8. Toronto $127.7 million
9. Texas $125.3 million
10. Chicago White Sox $118.9 million
Only thirty (30) percent of the highest payrolls made the playoffs this year.
So there is truly no correlation to the total payroll of a team and winning pennants. The assumption has been a team with better players cost more money. But certain teams like Tampa, Oakland and Pittsburgh rely on younger (therefore cheaper) talent.
