Team Payrolls: Shocking Disparities

[bobby jr]

Below are some samples from team payroll stats, and the link to all teams.

 

The Yankees have made the playoffs 10 years in a row, and fans from other cities like KC now feel their team has no chance, the deck is stacked against them. A large part of the competitive advantage the Yankees have is due to their advantages in revenue.

 

These disparities in team payroll should not continue. Teams like KC and the D Rays have no shot at all. Baseball needs to impose a salary cap like the NFL, or have total revenue sharing. It is no wonder that the NFL is now more popular than MLB.

 

http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/totalpayroll.aspx?year=2005

 

 

 

New York Yankees $ 208,306,817

Boston Red Sox $ 123,505,125

New York Mets $ 101,305,821

Baltimore Orioles $73914,333

Kansas City Royals $ 36,881,000

Tampa Bay Devil Rays $ 29,679,067

[YankeeDoodle]

Wow, this is surprising? Because it's not. And while the Yankees payroll is ridiculous, I'll concede that, some owners don't want to spend at all. Teams like the A's, Twins, Cardinals, to name a few, they don't have astronomical payrolls yet they stay pretty competitive. KC's management has been in disarray for quite awhile now. If there was a cap, it might not mean that the poor teams would spend more wisely, or that the colassal spenders would either, but that the teams currently in the middle, they would stand a bigger chance.

 

Thing is, the Yankee players would look poor compared to some of the European soccer clubs, but that's another story.

[soxie thefangirl]

Yeah. Look at the A's. They're first in the WC race and they don't make a lot of money at all. I don't think the money is as big a deal as some people seem to think.

[RedSoxRooter]

I always forget about Manny's huge contract.... Without that monster, the Sox would be about 101 million.

 

http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/playerdetail.aspx?lname=ramirez&player=1684

[Sox Fan on Cape]

Below are some samples from team payroll stats, and the link to all teams.

 

The Yankees have made the playoffs 10 years in a row, and fans from other cities like KC now feel their team has no chance, the deck is stacked against them. A large part of the competitive advantage the Yankees have is due to their advantages in revenue.

 

These disparities in team payroll should not continue. Teams like KC and the D Rays have no shot at all. Baseball needs to impose a salary cap like the NFL, or have total revenue sharing. It is no wonder that the NFL is now more popular than MLB.

 

http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/totalpayroll.aspx?year=2005

 

 

 

New York Yankees $ 208,306,817

Boston Red Sox $ 123,505,125

New York Mets $ 101,305,821

Baltimore Orioles $73914,333

Kansas City Royals $ 36,881,000

Tampa Bay Devil Rays $ 29,679,067

Whoaa. You can't even begin to compare these two sports. First of all, the NFL has done a tremedous job marketing and promoting their product. They kept weak market teams out of the league. The resultant contract that they received, were and are, tremendous. These amounts are distributed among the teams differently and result in a more fair allocation to each team. The draft system is totally different. The NFL can draft someone in the first several rounds ( or lower ) and have a resonable expectation of having them contribute in the first year or two ( dependent on postion ). MLB a draft pict is a prospect as we all know. This results in teams having a costly farm system. Finally, the players agreement is way different. If an NFL team cuts/ releases a player that's it they're off the hook ( expection of signing bonus ). In MLB , the team is going to be stuck with the contract. This makes a major difference. I won't even get into MLB quote other income disparity for teams that own networks ( Sox- NESN, Yanks- YES ) .

[YankeeDoodle]

I always forget about Manny's huge contract.... Without that monster, the Sox would be about 101 million.

 

http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/playerdetail.aspx?lname=ramirez&player=1684

Hey, if the Yankees got rid of the Rodriguez's monster contract, followed by Jeter's, and now that Williams' is coming to an end, not to mention Brown's...

 

There goes the team.

[Sox Fan on Cape]

Hey, if the Yankees got rid of the Rodriguez's monster contract, followed by Jeter's, and now that Williams' is coming to an end, not to mention Brown's...

 

There goes the organization.

In business, a better run business will allocate whatever resources are needed to achieve their budgeted goals. Meaning, if the result is net profit , you cut expenses as neccesary while trying to increase sales. If its net growth, you expand market share and acuqire tangible and intangible assets. Last time I checked MLB is a business, and in the East the two most succcessful teams are the Sox and the Yanks ( only exception is when Gerge goes a little wacko- in fairest to George if you got it then why not use it - got to met him a number of years ago really a pretty nice guy, if you don't work for him ).

[YankeeDoodle]

Can we get this in English?

 

And in MLB, Scott Bora$$ has a lot of leverage, whereas in the NFL, Drew Rosenhaus is seen as a goon. Granted you don't SEE Boras as much as Rosenhaus, but nonetheless, even Bernie knew his contract was far beyond what he should've gotten.

 

Yeah, it's a business alright. I just don't know how much until the all the media revenue, ticket revenue, can off-set how much the Yankees are dishing out the dough for these guys. Cashman's reluctant to sign players for that much now, well mainly he's not giving up prospects, but one would think that they're reaching the breaking point.

 

George is especially nice when the winning concept is working in his favor.

[Sox Fan on Cape]

What did I say ? Simply put if you got the money you spend it. If you look at the value ( what its worth if sold )of the Yankees since George has taken over, its grown has been astronomical. To a a lesser extent, the same can also be said of the Sox. In both cases, the Sox and the Yanks have other assets, the chief of these being their respective networks ( NESN YES ). This gives both a huge advantage over other teams. Because the profit from those enterprises aren't held against them under the MLB revenue sharing rules. Simply put both teams can show losses without losing money.

[riverside sluggers]

gone from the Yankees in 2006 will be Brian Cashman, Kevin Brown (will laugh my ass off if Yanks keep him), Bernie Williams (bench player if kept on), Tony Womack. Other than that who are free agents in the Yanks roster, Hideki is but will undoubtedly be signed to like a $100 million check from yanks managemnt

[Sizzlin22]

This is shocking. Almost as shocking as when Pete Rose admitted he bet on baseball.

[elsrbueno]

As much as I hate the Yankees, it pisses me off when people complain about this.

 

You think the Twins owner, or the Royals owner, or the Devil Rays owner are in debt? HELL NO.

 

The difference between the Yankees and the "small market" teams is simple-- George Steinbrenner runs his team like a fan would. He puts his effort and his money back into making the team as competitive as it can be, and he could give two shits whether he cuts a profit. As a result, he spends a boatload on good players (and some not so good) because he wants to win.

 

Other owners run the teams like a business. Their objective is to maximize profits, and most of them could give 2 shits whether or not the team makes the playoffs.

 

I don't know the exact figures, but teams like the Devil Rays and Royals get money from the Red Sox and Yankees through revenue sharing-- they just don't spend that money towards improving the team or if they do, they don't spend it properly.

 

Do the Yankees spend more money than any other team in the majors? Absolutely. Is that a shame? YES. However, MLB is already taking steps through revenue sharing and the luxury tax to try to even out that money difference. It's the owners fault for pocketing that money and not spending it to improve the on-field product.

[bobby jr]

As much as I hate the Yankees, it pisses me off when people complain about this.

 

You think the Twins owner, or the Royals owner, or the Devil Rays owner are in debt? HELL NO.

 

The difference between the Yankees and the "small market" teams is simple-- George Steinbrenner runs his team like a fan would. He puts his effort and his money back into making the team as competitive as it can be, and he could give two shits whether he cuts a profit. As a result, he spends a boatload on good players (and some not so good) because he wants to win.

 

Other owners run the teams like a business. Their objective is to maximize profits, and most of them could give 2 shits whether or not the team makes the playoffs.

 

I don't know the exact figures, but teams like the Devil Rays and Royals get money from the Red Sox and Yankees through revenue sharing-- they just don't spend that money towards improving the team or if they do, they don't spend it properly.

 

Do the Yankees spend more money than any other team in the majors? Absolutely. Is that a shame? YES. However, MLB is already taking steps through revenue sharing and the luxury tax to try to even out that money difference. It's the owners fault for pocketing that money and not spending it to improve the on-field product.

 

The steps are not enought. Even if the Royals' owner Glass put every cent of money from the Revenue sharing back into the Royals, their payroll would be about 25% of the Yankees. The Yankees revenues dwarf the small market teams.

 

I'm sick of seeing the Yankees signing free agents like Giambi and Mussina and obtaining international stars through their money (matsui) and obtaining other players through money tainted "trades" (Johnson, A-Rod).

 

If there was an even playing field, the Yankees could sink to the basement, where they were before free agency began in 1977. The Yankees were in the bottom half of the league during the 1965-74 . That was a period of true free competition. Then the Yankees started buying free agents like Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter and baseball has never been the same.

 

Under the present flawed system the Yankees have made the playoffs 10 years in a row. The NY Yankees will never finish last under the present system.

 

No way the Royals could ever make the playoffs 10 years in a row, or even two years in a row, given their lack of revenue in comparison to the big market teams. This is a shame, the Royals had a proud history with George Brett's teams of the late 70's and early 80's.

[CaptainDave]

Shouldn't the Chicago Cubs benefit from the present system? Chicago is the 3rd largest city in America and their fans are easily as hard core as we are. Yet their team is rarely even a serious threat to make the playoffs.

[bobby jr]

Well the White Sox will likely make it this year, and the Cubs almost made the World Series a couple of years ago. But the real question is not whether some teams can spend their money unwisely, of course they can.

 

But if you look at the payroll link, you will see that the upper part of the payroll rankings correlates with winning. And those at the bottom of payroll, with losing.

 

I'd rather just eliminate the payroll effect altogether, by going to a salary cap.