Payroll vs. Performance, 2002

With three teams winning over 100 games and three more losing 106, 2002 was not a banner season for competitive balance in Major League Baseball. But as the table below shows, the on-field disparities bore little relation to the payroll differentials among clubs.

Team Record Opening Day Payroll August 31 Payroll Luxury Tax Payroll
Yankees 103-58 $125,928,583 $133,429,575 $175,327,055
Red Sox 93-69 $108,366,060 $110,249,535 $113,795,076
Rangers 72-90 $105,302,124 $106,915,180 $130,622,297
Diamondbacks 98-64 $102,820,000 $103,528,877 $114,324,396
Dodgers 92-70 $94,850,952 $101,504,889 $120,009,194
Mets 75-86 $94,633,593 $94,395,575 $109,916,503
Braves 101-59 $93,470,367 $93,786,065 $110,769,608
Mariners 93-69 $80,282,668 $86,084,710 $100,044,597
Indians 74-88 $78,909,448 $74,888,365 $90,428,225
Giants 95-66 $78,299,835 $78,426,572 $96,222,368
Blue Jays 78-84 $78,864,333 $66,814,971 $66,697,684
Cubs 67-95 $75,690,833 $74,950,543 $88,838,341
Cardinals 97-65 $74,098,267 $76,227,801 $96,112,859
Astros 84-78 $63,448,417 $65,412,960 $82,118,370
Angels 99-63 $61,721,667 $62,757,041 $77,183,754
Orioles 67-95 $60,493,487 $56,504,685 $72,085,335
Phillies 80-81 $57,955,000 $59,593,741 $72,240,007
White Sox 81-81 $57,052,833 $54,534,084 $65,535,093
Rockies 73-89 $56,841,043 $56,509,185 $80,035,177
Tigers 55-106 $55,048,000 $54,390,870 $75,324,003
Brewers 56-106 $50,287,333 $49,259,130 $58,190,047
Royals 62-100 $47,257,000 $49,362,709 $58,708,117
Reds 78-84 $45,050,390 $46,310,698 $62,397,730
Pirates 72-89 $42,323,598 $46,059,984 $63,701,390
Marlins 79-83 $41,979,917 $40,822,536 $53,103,414
Padres 66-96 $41,425,000 $41,791,170 $65,677,440
Twins 94-67 $40,225,000 $41,309,031 $53,666,264
Athletics 103-59 $39,679,746 $41,942,665 $65,878,086
Expos 83-79 $38,670,500 $37,901,032 $43,549,061
Devil Rays 55-106 $34,380,000 $34,728,540 $43,983,815

Sources:
Opening Day salaries, 4/4/02 AP
Aug. 31 salaries, 10/11/02 AP
Luxury tax payrolls, 11/13/02 USA Today (includes $7,734,310 per team in benefits)

To summarize:

The six division winners ranked 1st, 4th, 7th, 13th, 27th and 28th, with the wild-cards 10th and 15th. .

The six last-place clubs ranked 3rd, 6th, 20th, 21st, 26th and 30th.

If the playoff berths had gone to the highest-payroll clubs, the Yankees, Indians, Rangers, Mets, Cubs and Diamondbacks would have won their divisions, with the Red Sox and Dodgers as wild- cards. Only two of these eight clubs actually made the playoffs, while four finished at least 11 games below .500.

The AL West finished in reverse order of team payroll. Last-place Texas outspent division-winning Oakland by over $65 million – which, in turn, was more than the entire payroll of the world champion Anaheim Angels.

The 106-loss Tigers outspent the division-winning Athletics and Twins by $15 million; the 106-loss Brewers outspent them by $10 million; and the 100-loss Royals outspent them by $7 million. Of the eight teams which outspent Oakland and Minnesota combined, only three made the playoffs.

Copyright © 2002 Doug Pappas. All rights reserved.
Originally published in the Fall 2002 issue of Outside the Lines, the SABR Business of Baseball Committee newsletter.

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