Sometimes Less is More
The BadderSports Theory states that large payrolls are often unsuccessful in terms of creating winning teams. Also low budget teams can still win. Consider the 2023 results.
The top three payrolls in baseball in 2023 were the Mets, Yankees and Padres. Not one of those team made the playoffs even as a wild card.
On the other hand, the three lowest payrolls were Oakland. Baltimore and Tampa Bay. Two of those teams were in the playoffs and Baltimore won their division with 101 wins.
Looking at the highest and lowest payrolls, there doesn’t seem to make much difference in creating winners. Specifically, twelve teams made the playoffs. Seven of the twelve had payrolls in the bottom half of the thirty teams.
If that is too vague and obscure, lets look at the 12 playoff teams and where there stood with payroll. For example. You will see Baltimore has a number 29. That means their payroll is 29th out of 30 teams where the Dodgers have the 5th highest payroll.
Division Winners - 4 out of 6 in bottom half
Baltimore - 29
Minnesota - 17
Houston - 10
Braves - 8
Milwaukee - 20
Dodgers - 5
Wild Card - 3 out of 6 in the bottom third
Phillies - 4
Diamondbacks - 21
Marlins - 24
Blue Jays - 7
Rangers - 9
Tampa Bay - 28
The next time you want your team to sign a great player for 300 million dollars, you just might be getting a huge disappointment and more Octobers watching other teams in the playoffs.
