Small Payrolls, Big Results

Apparently money doesn’t equal success in baseball. Of the top 10 payrolls, only 5 of them made the postseason. Which playoff-bound team spent the least per win?….the Oakland A’s ($55.4 million payroll), who had a payroll about a quarter of the Yankees. Atlanta, Cincinnati, Baltimore and Washington also made the playoffs and didn’t need to spend as much to do so.

What city leads the way in wasteful spending? That would be Los Angeles with the Dodgers and Angels. Both teams shelled out a ton of money and both teams will be watching the playoffs from home. The Dodgers’ already high payroll will be even worse next year when they need to pay the salaries of newly acquired (in a trade from the Red Sox) Adrian Gonzalez ($21.9 million), Carl Crawford ($20.4 million), Josh Beckett ($17.0 million) and Hanley Ramirez ($15.5 million). That’s a combined $74.8 million next season. To put it in perspective…..those four players alone will be paid more than the Diamondbacks’ entire 2012 opening-day payroll.

Tomorrow night should be very interesting (I’m writing this on Thursday)… there will be a one game playoff in both leagues. Usually, in years that the Red Sox don’t make it to the post season, I focus my attention to football…..but this year I can’t wait to see how this postseason plays out.

Who figured that the two-time American League champion Texas Rangers would be fighting to survive against the Oakland A’s? What about the defending world champion St. Louis Cardinals? I’m guessing no one thought they would need to play in the National League wild card playoff game! I know that no one (including many Orioles fans) had Baltimore making the playoffs at the start of the season.

Even though I hate not seeing the Red Sox in the post season, it’s refreshing to see so many small market teams make noise as we begin October. Can it be….will it be an A’s/Nats World Series?

While I’m talking baseball…

Why aren’t people making a bigger deal over Miguel Cabrera’s Triple Crown win? He was baseball’s first Triple Crown winner since 1967!! Only legends like Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig, Joe Medwick, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson and Carl Yastrzemski have held this honor. How come more hasn’t been made of his accomplishments? Is he not “legendary” enough? Or, have fans lost interest with the suspicion of performance enhancing drugs? Whatever the reason it’s not fair. It’s also crazy to me to hear some analysts say they aren’t sure he should win the American League MVP award. Seriously?? What else does he need to do?

While I’m still talking baseball….

Adam Greenberg (the player who got beaned with the first pitch he ever saw in the Majors as a member of the Cubs in 2005), got his chance to have one more at bat this week when the Miami Marlins signed him to a 1-day contract. It had been 7 years between trips to the plate for Adam. It was a great thing to see….even though, he eventually struck out swinging. Thumbs up to the Marlins for giving him the opportunity! Can you imagine if had gotten a hit….or better yet hit a homerun in his only at bat?

Week 5 NFL Football Picks

I went 11-4 for the week. I went 0-2 with my upset picks. Record: Overall (35-25), Upsets (5-5), Locks (5-2).

Game of the Week

Denver at New England | Winner: New England

Upsets of the Week:

Arizona at St. Louis | Winner: St. Louis
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh | Winner: Philadelphia

Lock of the Week:

Houston at NY Jets | Winner: Houston

The Rest:

Miami at Cincinnati | Winner: Cincinnati
Green Bay at Indianapolis | Winner: Green Bay
Baltimore at Kansas City | Winner: Baltimore
Tennessee at Minnesota | Winner: Minnesota
Atlanta at Washington | Winner: Washington
Cleveland at NY Giants | Winner: NY Giants
Seattle at Carolina | Winner: Carolina
Chicago at Jacksonville | Winner: Chicago
Buffalo at San Francisco | Winner: San Francisco
San Diego at New Orleans | Winner: New Orleans

Comments

comments