ESPN takes a fascinating look at whether spending money on team payroll does or doesn't lead to winning. The conclusion:
For every $7 million a team spends on payroll (at 2008 player salary levels) the team will on average win one more game. A team that spends $125 million, or $35 million more than the 2008 average payroll of about $90 million, would be expected to win five more games than average. That comes out to 86 for the season.The survey also ranks Oakland and the Twins as the teams that get the most out of low payrolls. The allegedly cheap Phillies? They're not mentioned. Posted by Stephen Silver at January 13, 2009 08:46 PM