Balls Sticks and Stuff on the Phillies and their money:
Here's the thing that everyone seems to be forgetting while looking with jealous and disdainful eyes at the blue-bloods who own the team that wears red-pinstripes: spending more money doesn't necessarily accomplish anything. Yes, the team that won the World Series this year, the Boston Red Sox, spent the second-most in baseball on payroll. But the other three teams that reached their league's championship games -- Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks -- were near the bottom of baseball in terms of payroll. Plus, teams such as the Minnesota Twins and the Oakland A's are more often than not exceptionally competitive while spending very little on payroll. In 2007, the Phillies spent between $90 and $100 million on player salaries, depending on how you parse the numbers, which is a range higher than approximately three quarters of the other teams in the league. Make no mistake, the Phillies are willing to spend.You'd think this would be obvious to anyone who pays any attention at all, but apparently not. Posted by Stephen Silver at November 15, 2007 05:19 PM