FanPost

Baseball Economics 101

I plucked this on a web search for MLB team salaries (and neglected to save the source - apologies). Any blubbering invectives directed at B. Beane ought to be filtered through the following:

Baseball Econo

This graph is the 2003 MLB team payrolls. The Yankees have the biggest payroll at $163,685,383 million. Followed by the Yankees are LA, NYM, BOS, and TEX. Your Oakland A's are 25th with a $50,360,930 million team payroll. TB is last with a team payroll just over $20 million.
A's payroll vs. Yankees payroll 1999-2003
OAK NYY
1999 $24,562,560 $92,440,970
2000 $30,363,620 $95,353,852
2001 $39,583,165 $114,005,830
2002 $39,856,534 $131,066,207
2003 $51,397,515 $167,150,480
A's vs. Yankees wins per year 1999-2003
OAK NYY
1999 87 98
2000 91 87
2001 102 95
2002 103 103
2003 96 101
This next graph is total number of wins for all the clubs from 1999-2003. The team with the most wins are the braves with 484. The Yankees are 2nd and the A's 3rd with 479. The Tigers and D-Rays are the teams with the last number of wins.
This next graph is the average cost per win per team from 1999-2003. Your A's pay $387,815 per win, the best of all 30 clubs. The Yankees pay the most with $1,239,685 per win.

I'll add the obvious, that Oakland won 12 fewer games than the Yankees in 2004, though they spent $120 MILLION LESS.
In a game of GROSS ECONOMIC IMBALANCE the A's are shaping the future of baseball - NOW. There is a tremendous amount of creative thinking going on in Oakland and it's a hell of a lot more interesting watching BB run up the ass of teams spending 2 or 3 times as much.
That said, I'd still like to see a beastmaster bat in the lineup.
Fortune shines on those who know what fortune is.