MLB Salary vs. MLB Standings
As we discussed the recent trades of the beloved Indians and the plight of the small and mid-market clubs, I was curious to see how the current teams records stacked up against their MLB salary. The table below details this information as of 7/30/09:
| American League | ||||||
| Salary Rank | Salary ($M) | American League East | W | L | Pct. | |
| 1 | 201.4 | N.Y. Yankees | 62 | 39 | 0.614 | |
| 4 | 122.7 | Boston | 58 | 42 | 0.580 | |
| 25 | 63.3 | Tampa Bay | 55 | 47 | 0.539 | |
| 16 | 81.0 | Toronto | 49 | 53 | 0.480 | |
| 23 | 67.1 | Baltimore | 44 | 57 | 0.436 | |
| American League Central | ||||||
| Team | W | L | Pct. | |||
| 5 | 115.1 | Detroit | 53 | 47 | 0.530 | |
| 24 | 65.3 | Minnesota | 52 | 50 | 0.510 | |
| 12 | 96.1 | Chi. White Sox | 51 | 51 | 0.500 | |
| 15 | 81.6 | Cleveland | 42 | 60 | 0.412 | |
| 21 | 70.9 | Kansas City | 40 | 61 | 0.396 | |
| American League West | ||||||
| Team | W | L | Pct. | |||
| 6 | 113.7 | L.A. Angels | 60 | 40 | 0.600 | |
| 22 | 68.6 | Texas | 56 | 43 | 0.566 | |
| 10 | 98.9 | Seattle | 53 | 48 | 0.525 | |
| 26 | 62.3 | Oakland | 43 | 58 | 0.426 | |
| National League | ||||||
| National League East | ||||||
| Team | W | L | Pct. | |||
| 7 | 113.0 | Philadelphia | 58 | 41 | 0.586 | |
| 30 | 36.8 | Florida | 53 | 48 | 0.525 | |
| 11 | 96.7 | Atlanta | 51 | 50 | 0.505 | |
| 2 | 135.8 | N.Y. Mets | 49 | 51 | 0.490 | |
| 27 | 59.3 | Washington | 32 | 70 | 0.314 | |
| National League Central | ||||||
| Team | W | L | Pct. | |||
| 13 | 88.5 | St. Louis | 56 | 48 | 0.538 | |
| 3 | 135.1 | Chi. Cubs | 53 | 46 | 0.535 | |
| 8 | 103.0 | Houston | 51 | 51 | 0.500 | |
| 17 | 79.9 | Milwaukee | 51 | 51 | 0.500 | |
| 20 | 71.0 | Cincinnati | 45 | 56 | 0.446 | |
| 28 | 48.7 | Pittsburgh | 43 | 58 | 0.426 | |
| National League West | ||||||
| 9 | 100.5 | L.A. Dodgers | 62 | 39 | 0.614 | |
| 14 | 82.2 | San Francisco | 55 | 46 | 0.545 | |
| 18 | 75.2 | Colorado | 54 | 47 | 0.535 | |
| 19 | 73.6 | Arizona | 44 | 58 | 0.431 | |
| 29 | 42.8 | San Diego | 41 | 62 | 0.398 |
There are many different ways to measure a teams performance, but if salary vs winning percentage is used, some quick observations are that Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Texas, Florida, and St. Louis have exceeded expectations while the New York Mets have totally under achieved. With the disparity in salary even within each division, it really makes winning the division difficult for lower salaried teams and trades of superstar talent for multiple prospects more understandable.
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The Top 5 in $/W:
1. Florida $694,339.62 2. San Diego $1,043,902.44 3. Pittsburgh $1,132,558.14 4. Tampa Bay $1,150,909.09 5. Texas $1,225,000.00
And the bottom:
30. N.Y. Yankees $3,248,387.10 29. N.Y. Mets $2,771,428.57 28. Chi. Cubs $2,549,056.60 27. Detroit $2,171,698.11 26. Boston $2,115,517.24
Not that this is necessarily a useful way to look at it, but still.
It’s a start, but the real dynamic is the ability to keep your own top talent as long as you want (Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Petite, A-Rod…), then fill in gaps along the way. What you pay for is not just performance, but consistent, reliable, predictable performance. Not throwing the dice at a bunch of wildcards like the Tribe has to do. Look over a 10-15 span is more enlightening, not any single year. Yankees and Red Sox almost always near the top, 90+ wins, while the others are bobbing up and down. Also, the inefficiencies that small market teams like the A’s and Indians could tap have been driven out of the system. Yankees and Red Sox can do what the small market teams do…then throw a bunch more financial resources at it. Sure, money doesn’t make up for stupidity (Cubs, Dodgers until this year), but put smarts and money together in a closed system, and this is what you’ll get, mostly. Also, the ability to buy mistakes with money is underrated.
by Bogalusa Bomber on Aug 1, 2009 1:21 AM EDT up reply actions
This sketch looks at all 30 Major League Baseball Teams and ranks them on the left according to their day-to-day standings. The lines connect each team to their 2009 salary, listed on the right.
by BrianRose on Jul 31, 2009 6:02 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
If you had all 40 guys at the league minimum (which I think is $400k), you would be at $16 M. To have 40 league minimum players hit .500 would be a very tall feat. Heck, we couldn’t hit .500 this year with $80 M and the AL Central is considered weak.
agree
this is just a down year in baseball. Heck if you are in the division lead you could go 4-6 in a 10 game stretch and only be a game out
Carlos Guillen, the Latino Nick Punto
I’m not sure what you’re getting at…. For every game that’s played there’s exactly one win and one loss recorded. Are you saying the races are closer than usual this year?
Hey, mister I-root-for-everyone-but-the-Indians … at least you could stop using the subject line, pay attention to your surroundings a little bit.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
by Jay on Aug 9, 2009 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions
It translates to fewer good-to-outstanding teams, because of greater parity.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
by Jay on Aug 9, 2009 7:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Me neither. I just like to play translator for the clueless. It’s my charity work. There are clueless people in my family, actually.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
by Jay on Aug 9, 2009 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh, and don’t worry, Sam will start understanding things eventually.
by Logodaedalus on Aug 9, 2009 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions
My now 10 year old hated Garko. He thinks Marte should play more. I thought he’d take the trade of Victor harder having just spent his birthday money on a #41 jersey, but he told me he thought the Indians needed pitchers more than they needed catchers (“isn’t that what Carlos Santana is for?”).
My 6 year old daughter, on the other hand, mostly thinks Grady is awesome and says trading Cliff Lee was “stupid” because she liked him, and he was the only Indians pitcher she has ever seen pitch in person. About CC she says “I remember him, he was the fat one. I liked him before, but now he’s a Yankee, so I hate him.”
Also! Your kids are geniuses.
My main observation about my nephew was that he was just about as astute as his father (my brother) and definitely way above the norm for cleveland.com.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Most of their friends are Yankees or Red Sox fans, for no readily apparent reason, so they’ll always seem geniusy in context. Besides, our family is far better at mathematics than we are at athletics, so it doesn’t take much to raise sabemetricians. I can teach xFIP far more easily than I can teach either one to hit a curveball.
Nobody should be throwing curveballs at that age anyway.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
That’s another issue altogether, of course. We faced a 10 year old little league pitcher who had a fastball, curve and change. Not sure how many were plus pitches. That kid’s an injury waiting to happen.
How about throwing a screwball at age 12?
I did, knowing full well I wouldn’t be pitching beyond the age of 15.
Usually, an incredible waste of pixels.
Wow
I knew the mets were underachieving but that is ridiculous.
Carlos Guillen, the Latino Nick Punto

















