Big League Payroll Analysis: Rays Win

If you are interested in the business side of the game, The Biz of Baseball has released their annual report detailing how efficiently and effectively each of the 30 clubs spent their player payroll.

The report, using the Marginal Payroll/Marginal Wins, shows that spending the most does not always mean a return on investment in the standings. "If there was anything to be learned this year it was that teams comprised of low player payroll could go toe-to-toe with teams that were stocked with high-dollar free agents," said Maury Brown, president of the Business of Sports Network, which runs The Biz of Baseball.

Key findings include:
-The most teams that got the most bang for the buck were the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers.
-The teams that got the worst return on investment were the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers.
-The team that spent the most per marginal win was the Tigers at $5,030,126.

Make sure to check out the PDF document showing payroll information for all 30 clubs, including the "bang for the buck" metric used to determine who spent wisely, who spent poorly, and all points in-between.

By the way, this site should be regular reading for anyone with an interest the business of major and minor league ball. For information on the Rays individual contracts go to Cot's.