Moneyball Revisited

I've complained about no salary cap in baseball for ages, to no avail, so why do I even try?  But I will point out that the four teams that just made the finals in the playoffs ranked,  1, 6, 7, 9 in team salaries.  That's out of 30 teams.  Yes, there were some nice Cinderella teams this year--the A's, the O's and the Nats, but they all lost.  Naturally, they ranked 18, 19 and dead last (at 30) in salaries.   The Yankees' infield, just four players, make as much dough as the entire Orioles team.  And so on.

Some (i.e., mainly Yankee fans) often point out that the high-paying teams don't always win the World Series.  The Yankees, for example, have only won once in recent years, after winning several times in the late 1990s.  But the point is:  Their salary imbalance virtually guarantees they will at least make the playoffs (they've done that every single year except once or twice for the past, what, 17 years?)  Other teams that spend a lot almost always make the post-season--such as the Red Sox (who did miss this year) and Texas.  

So, yes, money doesn't guarantee winning it all--but it does tilt the standings so much in your favor it takes much of the fun out of the game for a tremendous number of fans.