For reference, here are the 2007 team payrolls. The AL average is $93 million while the NL comes in at $74 million. That $19 million difference buys 4-5 wins on the free agent market, explaining much of the talent disparity between the leagues.
The Marlins will have an even lower payroll next season, but should still win 75 games. The two Florida teams (now that the Rays are under better management) have an impressive collection of talent for as little as they spend on free agents. Assuming both teams bump up the payroll to make a run in the next few years, I have no problem with that strategy. It sure beats what the Orioles and Reds are doing.
Lg Organization Payroll A New York Yankees $189,639,045 A Boston Red Sox $143,026,214 A Los Angeles Angels $109,251,333 A Chicago White Sox $108,671,833 A Seattle Mariners $106,460,833 A Detroit Tigers $95,180,369 A Baltimore Orioles $93,554,808 A Toronto Blue Jays $81,942,800 A Oakland Athletics $79,366,940 A Minnesota Twins $71,439,500 A Texas Rangers $68,318,675 A Kansas City Royals $67,116,500 A Cleveland Indians $61,673,267 A Tampa Bay Rays $24,123,500 N New York Mets $115,231,663 N Los Angeles Dodgers $108,454,524 N Chicago Cubs $99,670,332 N St. Louis Cardinals $90,286,823 N San Francisco Giants $90,219,056 N Philadelphia Phillies $89,428,213 N Houston Astros $87,759,000 N Atlanta Braves $87,290,833 N Milwaukee Brewers $70,986,500 N Cincinnati Reds $68,904,980 N San Diego Padres $58,110,567 N Colorado Rockies $54,424,000 N Arizona Diamondbacks $52,067,546 N Pittsburgh Pirates $38,537,833 N Washington Nationals $37,347,500 N Florida Marlins $30,507,000
Source: USA Today Salary Database
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Hey!! :)
In all seriousness, the Reds are putting together a nice collection of young talent. Hamilton, Encarnacion, Phillips, Votto, Bruce, Bailey, Cueto… Add that to Dunn and Harang, and you’ve got a damn good nucleus of talent. I’m biased, of course, but to me this is a team on its way up.
‘Course, at the same time, it’s a team with only four starters who have big league experience going into next season. But come ‘09…
-j
December 7th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Yeah… You can’t compare the Reds to the Orioles. The Reds are building around young talent while the Orioles have been trying to buy their wins for a long time. Orioles have spent 70+ Mil in 8 of their last 10 seasons while the Reds never have. Also the Orioles are known as a poorly run franchise while the Reds have new ownership within the last few years. They are not similar at all.
You just said ” Assuming both teams bump up the payroll to make a run in the next few years, I have no problem with that strategy.”
THATS WHAT THE REDS JUST DID! after being 25th on the list last year
December 7th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Thanks, guys, I should have been more careful about the Reds. They definitely do have a nice young set of players.
But their moves at the major league level have been suspect the past few years, especially since Krivsky took over. I really don’t trust them to make smart choices going forward. If folks with more knowledge want to chime in, go for it.
December 8th, 2007 at 2:13 am
What major league moves? Signing Cordero is a reasonable move. Signing Agone was reasonable, but not great. Signing Stanton sucked, but Weathers has been decent.
Look at the roster, who there have been horrible moves?
1B - Hatty/Votto - both good
2B - BP - great trade
SS - Agone - reasonable
3B - EE - good
RF - Griffey - not a recent move
CF - Hamilton/Bruce - great
LF - Dunn - good (Don’t say he’s not worth 13 mil)
Pitching:
Harang - great
Aroyyo - signing, great trade
Belisle - decent (he’s underrated)
Bailey - great
Cueto - great
Maloney - good
Cordero - even if you think the signing was bad he still is a very good pitcher
Weathers - good
Burton - great pickup
Stanton - sucked
The only relatively recent FA signing that’s been horrible has been Milton and Stanton. It would be hard to argue anything else. But Kriv didnt sign Milton. There have been smaller moves that havn’t been great with Krivsky but nothing that really that big. The “trade” is viewed as bad, not because of the players he gave up, but the value he got in return. But they got Agone which was better than Lopez last year, and replaced Kearns with Hamilton.
December 8th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
I certainly see the point about Krivsky’s moves. The Trade (Kearns and Lopez for Bray and Majewski) was an obvious and massive mistake from day one, as much as I tried to convince myself it was ok. And he did pay too much for Cordero.
But at the same time, he’s made some phenomenal small moves (or been phenomenally lucky in some small moves) to get guys like Phillips, Hamilton, Burton, Coutlangus, and the ‘06 version of David Ross. So I honestly am still not sure about his abilities yet. If you remove The Trade from his record, he looks like a pretty darn good GM. … ‘Course, The Trade did happen…
-j
December 15th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
These payrolls do not reflect luxury taxes or the posting fees two specific teams spent on Japanese pitchers last year. Factor those in and both Boston and NYY are over $200 million.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:24 am
Whew!!Athletes sure are paid a lot. I believe this is their payroll from playing, right? This is exclusive of the endorsements they do. But until now I don’t know what athletes are paid that much.^ ^
November 6th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Even my mom liked it:))