How much does victory cost? That depends on who is paying the bill (and in terms of war, what one calls “victory”). In Major League Baseball, where team payrolls can vary enormously, the payroll-dollars-to-team-wins ratio can be dramatically, appallingly different. Since The Cheapskate Blog is all about getting the best value, I thought the midseason All-Star break was a good time to look at which teams are and aren’t getting the most bang (i.e., wins) for their payroll bucks.
Suffice it to say that several teams get a lot more for their money compared to either of New York’s highly paid squads this year. Who does get the most Ws for their dollars? It’s no contest: The Florida Marlins, which started the 2009 season as the only club with a payroll under $40 million (about $37 million), are paying the least per win. The Marlins have won 46 games in the first half of the season. Divide its payroll in half (because they’ve only played half the season), and then divide that by the team’s 46 wins, and you’ve got a dollars-per-win figure of about $400,000.
Sounds like a lot. Actually, it’s a bargain, especially compared to the team two spots below the Marlins in the National League East. The New York Mets’ payroll at the beginning of this season was just under $150 million. With 42 wins, the team is dropping nearly $1.8 million per W.
The Yankees, meanwhile, have a better record than either team, but as any sports fan knows: The Bronx Bombers pay top dollar for it. The team’s $201 million payroll is tops in the majors, and with 51 wins in the season’s first half, they’re on pace to fork out just under $2 million per win.
Whenever my fan loyalties aren’t in direct conflict, I root for the underdog. Well, call me a Marlins fan. This year, the Fish certainly qualify—because nowadays the team with the least money is always the underdog. I’ll root for the Marlins to continue to do well and hopefully make the playoffs. And tonight, at the All-Star game in St. Louis, I’ll try to stay up to at least see the first NL batter: Marlins’ shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who happens to also be leading the NL in batting average at .349.
From the looks of things, however, I won’t be a Marlins fan for long. The team is building a new stadium, and the owners are expected to put together a fancy team to go with the fancy new ballpark. The Marlins’ payroll will likely double in the near future, so I’ll have to find another high-achieving, low-paid underdog to cheer on.