Team Salary vs. Performance Graph

by jambolyajones on Jul 11, 2006 5:02 PM EDT

Check out this interesting site to see how MLB teams compare to each other on record vs. team salary:
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http://benfry.com/salaryper/
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It's interesting to see that it's about a 50-50 split of teams playing above/below their team salary rank.

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looks like

the best trajectory is Colorado and the worst is... whodathunkit the Baby Bears.

by Blue on Jul 11, 2006 5:57 PM EDT reply actions

That's cool

I didn't realize how little Tampa Bay spends. Geez...

by satyanaas on Jul 11, 2006 6:38 PM EDT reply actions

pretty!

it's interesting because is shows that aside from the insanely high budgets of a few of the top teams i hate the yankees and the incredibly low budgets of a few of the bottom teams, team salary isn't playing a huge role in team performance. it's an argument that will never go away, though.

This is my corn. You people are guests in my corn.

by Daedalus on Jul 11, 2006 6:41 PM EDT reply actions

totally agree

it's such a red herring excuse that thrives when the Yankees win, but at least now people are ignoring it.

by Brian B on Jul 11, 2006 9:24 PM EDT up reply actions

confused

Sorry Brian, I'm not sure I understand your comment (seriously, I'm not being facetious). Are you saying that a higher payroll doesn't matter much and is used as an convenient excuse when the Yankees win? If so, I agree to a point. Money certainly doesn't automatically ensure success, but it sure as hell doesn't hurt. Almost every team has bloated contracts that have outlived their usefulness. And no GM is infallible. But if you're a team that needs a third baseman, you're probably much better off if your payroll allows you to trade for an A-Rod than if it allows you to pick up a Joe Randa. And if you need a starting pitcher, you're probably much better off going after a Mike Mussina than a Paul Wilson. Of course, incompetent management can sabotage any team, but in general, I'll take the higher payroll.

by ctnyc on Jul 12, 2006 12:49 AM EDT reply actions

agree

True, but as you know, no one's born equal in life or in any business. So while you'd "rather" have money than no money, it's not an acceptable excuse to lose.

While it's true that incompetent management can sabotage a team, I think it's truer that (1) A-Rod isn't going to win the pennant for you and (2)non-lazy management can find you a third baseman who can pull his weight and get you to the playoffs so long as you have other competent position players.

So we're mostly in agreement, but we might just be talking about different things.

by Brian B on Jul 13, 2006 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions