1 New York Yankees $194,663,079 (Playoffs) 2 Boston Red Sox $120,099,824 3 Los Angeles Angels $103,472,000 4 Chicago White Sox $102,750,667 5 New York Mets $101,084,963 (Playoffs) 6 Los Angeles Dodgers $98,447,187 (Playoffs) 7 Chicago Cubs $94,424,499 8 Houston Astros $92,551,503 9 Atlanta Braves $90,156,876 10 San Francisco Giants $90,056,419 11 St. Louis Cardinals $88,891,371 (Playoffs, WSC) 12 Philadelphia Phillies $88,273,333 13 Seattle Mariners $87,959,833 14 Detroit Tigers $82,612,866 (Playoffs) 15 Baltimore Orioles $72,585,582 16 Toronto Blue Jays $71,915,000 17 San Diego Padres $69,896,141 (Playoffs) 18 Texas Rangers $68,228,662 19 Minnesota Twins $63,396,006 (Playoffs) 20 Washington Nationals $63,143,000 21 Oakland Athletics $62,243,079 (Playoffs) 22 Cincinnati Reds $60,909,519 23 Arizona Diamondbacks $59,684,226 24 Milwaukee Brewers $57,568,333 25 Cleveland Indians $56,031,500 26 Kansas City Royals $47,294,000 27 Pittsburgh Pirates $46,717,750 28 Colorado Rockies $41,233,000 29 Tampa Bay Devil Rays $35,417,967 30 Florida Marlins $14,998,500[/code]
The last 10 World Series winners have been: the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (#11), the 2005 Chicago White Sox (#13), the 2004 Boston Red Sox (#2), the 2003 Florida Marlins (#25), the 2002 Los Angeles Angels (#15), the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks (#8), the 2000 New York Yankees (#1), the 1999 New York Yankees (#1), the 1998 New York Yankees (#2), and the 1997 Florida Marlins (#7).
With the exception of 2003, all the World Series winners were within the top 15 teams in salaries.
Sure, you can fool yourself and look at ranks, but look at the gap among payrolls. There is a wider gap between the Yankees and #2 Boston in payroll than there is between Boston and #27 Pittsburgh! And that gap continues to grow.
Luxury tax? It's a bucket of water against an inferno.
