Don’t blame big payrolls for the success of Dodgers, Yankees and Mets
LOS ANGELES – It’s a cyclical thing, and the cycle has come back around to the tired lazy narrative. The teams with the three largest payrolls are three of baseball’s final four. Those three teams play in New York or Los Angeles. Baseball is doomed. But think back to this time last year. There was a narrative last October too. Tony Clark, the executive director of the players’ union, stood on the field at Dodger Stadium and smiled. He has heard it all before. Baseball is not doomed. “Last year,” Clark said, “the conversation was the exact opposite: Everyone was concerned about the format, because the teams that had the most wins over the course of the year didn’t find their way late into the postseason.
This year, the Dodgers spent the money, earned a first-round bye, and advanced. Last year, the Dodgers spent the money, earned a first-round bye, and did not advance. So was the system was rigged in favor of the rich teams this year and rigged against the rich teams last year? Baseball is not doomed because it lacks a salary cap. The Kansas City Chiefs dominate the NFL, but not because the NFL has a salary cap. The Chiefs dominate because they have Patrick Mahomes, who has led his team to three championships in five years, including back-to-back championships.
The last back-to-back champions in Major League Baseball: the New York Yankees, 24 years ago. Sixteen MLB teams have won the World Series since then, including the Angels, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals. For MLB, competitive balance comes from the expanded postseason, because – stop us if you’ve heard this before – anything can happen in a short series. No team has to spend $300 million to win. The lowest seed in the National League playoffs represented the league in the World Series the last two years and could for a third consecutive year. Those three teams won 87, 84 and 89 games.
