Moneyball LIVES

Brad-Pitt-in-Moneyball.-007

Oh, how bizarre, we just saw this movie two days ago, about a poor baseball team attempting to compete against rich teams (in a league with no salary cap … helloooo … everyone else has one.).

Get this, the Red Sox didn’t even make the playoffs, and the Phillies and the Yankees don’t get out of the first round of the postseason — in short, they don’t get the slightest SNIFF of the World Series. These are the three fattest teams in Major League Baseball for payroll.

Combined, the Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies had a payroll of $535 MILLION — or $178.3 million each.

Meanwhile, the teams that are still alive? The Brewers, Cardinals, Tigers and Rangers have a combined payroll of $387 million — or $96.75 million each, barely more than one-half of the three fattest teams.

Interestingly, here are other teams that have bigger payrolls than these four teams — the Cubs, Mets, Angels, Twins, Giants and White Sox, six teams that didn’t even make the postseason. In the case of the Cubs, Twins, Mets and White Sox, they didn’t even come close. The Tigers have the highest payroll remaining — 10th in Major League Baseball. The Brewers are 17th.

What does this mean? Yeah, baseball needs a salary cap and the rich teams still have unfair advantages, but you still have to build a smart team to win. The Red Sox and Yankees completely ignored their flawed pitching staffs while spending like drunken sailors, while the Phillies ignored their flawed offence while spending like a drunken sailor on pitching.

Sometimes, the world IS fair. A little.

3 thoughts on “Moneyball LIVES”

  1. When I heard the news that the Bronx Blowhards got eliminated – and, fitting, ending their season with an A-Wad strikeout – that put a smile on my face.

    Now, for your entertainment, here’s a link to the NYTimes Bats blog to read Yankee-fans weep, make excuses, drool at the surviving teams at the prospect of B-Cashman going after their top players in the off-season, and furthermore, suggest playoff-changes (i.e. a 7-game DLS instead of a 5-game) which they think will give their beloved Yankees an edge, but really, given their pitching won’t make a snit’s but of difference… 😆

    http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/

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