Observe the cash.
That acquainted rule — employed to devastating political impact by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein — is equally relevant to the baseball playoffs.
Three of the 4 remaining groups hail from the nation’s two largest metropolitan areas, New York and Los Angeles, and all three are loaded with money.
Take into account the record of 2024’s largest payrolls, as estimated by Baseball Reference. Seven golf equipment spent greater than $240 million on gamers this yr:
1. New York Yankees, $291,463,084
2. Houston Astros, $275,678,766
3. New York Mets, $262,702,250
4. Los Angeles Dodgers, $262,386,278
5. Texas Rangers, $261,471,834
6. Atlanta Braves, $260,912,300
7. Philadelphia Phillies, $248,632,283
I’ve already famous that three of the 4 greatest spenders are presently concerned within the Championship Collection of their respective leagues. These lucky groups can be the Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers.
The remaining golf equipment from the record above both certified for this yr’s playoffs (Astros, Braves, and Phillies) or received final yr’s World Collection (Rangers).
Make of this what you’ll.
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A way of equity requires me so as to add that the American League Championship Collection options an outlier. The Cleveland Guardians are on the quick record of groups with payrolls beneath $100 million:
1. Oakland Athletics, $55,690,000
2. Pittsburgh Pirates, $85,226,500
3. Cleveland Guardians, $94,230,728
4. Cincinnati Reds, $98,323,334
The opposite three golf equipment met predictable fates in 2024. The Athletics, Pirates, and Reds all completed far out of the playoff hunt.
