Baseball Team Payrolls Vs. Team Success

Ben Fry has developed this very nifty graphic showing the relationship between the payroll and team success throughout the Major Baseball league. Check out the graph at his site, which will show the changes throughout the season, but here's a quick explanation of that the lines mean:

A steep blue line means that the team is doing well for its money, which reflects well on the team's General Manager. A steep red line implies that the team is throwing away money. The thickness of the line is proportional to the team's salary relative to the others.

Naturally, the Yankees' line is like it was made with a fat red Crayon. By the looks of it, the Mets are doing pretty well (an expensive team, but, hey, they are working), but the Colorado Rockies have a pretty good record for the third lowest payroll. Although other sports leagues have salary caps, we'd be curious how this looks for basketball, given the Knicks' recent pitiful season and huge payroll.

You can see how the graph works by looking at the graph for the 2005 season.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung on May 15, 2006 12:58 PM

Comments [rss]

SATAN

Toby - I'm sorry, but I get sick of hearing how much money police officers, firefighters and teachers deserve. Most police officers are thugs, most firefighters sit around for 95% of the day and most teachers are lazy and don't care (and more money wouldn't make it better).

If you don't like how much money baseball players make, then don't go! Then, you can give your extra cash to a police officer on the street.

Toby

The Yankees and Steinbrenner's have been slowly pushing me to break with the family tradition and step over to being a Mets fan. Although Bud Selig's mismanagement of the sport has really driven me away from baseball say from ten years ago. Still these guys are paid way too much money. It would be nice to go back to the days when these guys had real jobs. Imagine going to a store and being served by the greatest Yankee of all time, Yogi Berra? Can you imagine some steroid pumped multi-millionaire like Barry Bonds having a real job in the off season? These guys are being paid obscene amounts of money that they don't deserve. Who deserves this kind of money? Firefighters, police officers and teachers - a lot of who have to work two jobs or more. That is not right.

SATAN

Read "Moneyball". Nick Swisher is kicking ass this season for the A's.

My predictions this season:

1. Moose will finally win 20 games but the Yankees will miss the playoffs.

2. The Brewers will finally finish over .500... 1 game over.

3. The Reds will make the playoffs, but Griffey will break his ankle before October.

4. Travis "Pronk" Hafner will have a huge second half, Pujols will slow down after the All-Star break (but still rock), and Jim Thome will have a career year.

5. Clemens will probably not return at all, and if he does, it'll be for the Red Sox.

6. Shawn Green will make a comeback (go Jewish guy!)

7. Stick a fork in Brad Lidge - he's done.

8. Speaking of relievers, Mariano will retire after this year and become a preacher.

9. Tom Gordon will become the first pitcher to win 100 games, save 100 games and hold 100 games.

10. The Blue Jays will make a comeback this year and make the playoffs. So will the Tigers.

11. World Series: Mets vs. White Sox - SOx win.

I actually realized I could make dozens of precitions, but I'll stick with these few for now. Especially since none of them will come true most likely.

Rodney P. Sweetchops

This is excellent, thank you Gothamist, it almost makes up for the terrible spelling, grammar and copy editing we have to put up with daily. Almost.

Jen

I can't wait to check on the graphic as the season progresses - if you look at the 2005 chart, you'll see that the White Sox made out like bandits (especially considering they won the World Series).

And I think baseball is so analyzed is because there are so many games a year, and the game has been around for so long - lots of data!

jmchez

Great graphic! Yet more proof that baseball is the most statistically overanalyzed sport (night vs daytime winning percentages?). It seems that the Reds are getting the most for the money while the Angels are the most inefficient. On the other hand, Houston, Florida and Pittsburgh seem to be getting what they paid for.