Teamsiliconvalley - Sports Blog

What $58,245,500 gets you these days

July 4th, 2008

Kansas City gets what it pays for.

At least that’s what Ben Fry’s salary vs performance graph shows as of July 2. This fun little tool measures Major League Baseball teams’ win-loss records against their payroll.

Its pretty refreshing to see the Rays with the best record in baseball — and the second lowest total payroll at $43,820,56. The cheapest talent can be found with the Florida Marlins who, as a team, make less than half of what the Rays make. That’s taking it too far though, an this graph is neat because it shows the extremes on both ends of the spectrum — the New York Yankees spend $209,081,584 on payroll compared to the next-closest team, the Mets at $137,793,376.

It’s worth pointing out that the Marlins are within half a game of the Yankees. If you’re going to err, it sure is nice to save money while you’re doing it.

The Royals are the only team with a payroll figure that corresponds exactly with its win-loss record, and the Boston Red Sox are the only big spenders getting their money’s worth.

Entry Filed under: Sports