Quick Take

I have two favorite baseball teams. They play in the two cities in which I grew up and lived most of my life, namely St. Louis and Los Angeles. One came through for me this season.

The St. Louis Cardinals won all of 83 regular-season games in 2006, and almost played themselves right out of post-season competition. Along the way, they had two eight-game losing streaks and one seven-game losing streak. They were underdogs to all of their post-season opposition, and justifiably so. But fortunately for the Cardinals, the games are played on the field, and not in the sports books.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS, CHAMPIONS OF BASEBALL. AS JACK BUCK WOULD HAVE SAID, “THAT’S A WINNER.”  

Story of the Week

MLB TEAM PAYROLLS

MLB TEAM PLAYER PAYROLLS AT THE START OF 2006:

There were changes (up and down) in team payrolls as the year progressed, but the information regarding those changes was so conflicting that I elected to write this article based upon the payrolls at the start of the season. Data was obtained from OneStopBaseball.Com.

*The eight 2006 playoff teams are noted in money green.       

New York Yankees 			$194,663,079                             

Boston Red Sox      			$120,099,824     

Los Angeles Angels    			$103,472,000     

Chicago White Sox        			$102,750,667     

New York Mets     			$101,084,963                                     

Los Angeles Dodgers  			$98,447,187            

Chicago Cubs           			$94,424,499      

Houston Astros           			$92,551,503      

Atlanta Braves          			$90,156,876      

San Francisco Giants    			$90,056,419      

St. Louis Cardinals  			$88,891,371                          

Philadelphia Phillies     			$88,273,333      

Seattle Mariners        			$87,959,833      

Detroit Tigers     			$82,612,866                 

Baltimore Orioles 			$72,585,582      

Toronto Blue Jays      			$71,915,000      

San Diego Padres			$69,896,141     

Texas Rangers          			$68,228,662      

Minnesota Twins   			$63,396,006                 

Washington Nationals   			$63,143,000      

Oakland Athletics 			$62,243,079                          

Cincinnati Reds           			$60,909,519      

Arizona Diamondbacks  			$59,684,226      

Milwaukee Brewers      			$57,568,333      

Cleveland Indians       			$56,031,500      

Kansas City Royals   			$47,294,000     

Pittsburgh Pirates    			$46,717,750      

Colorado Rockies        			$41,233,000      

Tampa Bay Devil Rays  			$35,417,967      

Florida Marlins       			$14,998,500

MLB Luxury Tax For 2006:

No tax for first-timers. 30% for second-timers. 40% for third- and fourth-timers. The line of demarcation free and clear of the luxury tax is anything under $136.5 million. (It has been a graduating scale since 2002. This collective bargaining agreement expires on December 19^th. of this year.)

          I’ve been finding fault for years with the lack of a salary cap in MLB. It’s unfair as hell, and creates anything but a level playing field. Before you tell me I’m all wet, consider the following:

          Sure, the Yankees had to pay a luxury tax of 40% of $58,163,079; their payroll less $136.5 million x 40%. That total tax was $23,265,231. So the combination of their payroll plus the luxury tax was $217,928,310. So what!  George’s total revenues from tickets, concessions, parking, and his good friend, television, were in excess of $400 million.

          Yes, the Yankees, based on starting 2006 payrolls, were the only MLB team taxed. So why don’t other teams spend more money and still avoid the tax?

Possible reasons: They feel they can challenge for a title without a higher payroll OR their total revenues don’t justify it OR they’re in it for the money and not to win a title. In all fairness, however, true small-market teams have little chance to capture the brass ring of baseball, although it has been done.

Solution: Make all teams adhere to a bona-fide salary cap. However, force all teams to adhere to a minimum salary payroll based on a specific % of total (all sources) team revenues. Yes, I’m taking a shot at the Yankees, but I’m also taking a shot at the Florida Marlins. Both situations are totally absurd!

Closing Observations Re: 2006 Team Player Payrolls:

Of the top 10 payrolls, only three of those teams made it to the playoffs.

World Series participants St. Louis and Detroit were #’s 11 and 14 respectively on that expenditure list.

The Yankees’ payroll was $23,158,842 million more than the combined  total payrolls of St. Louis and Detroit before their luxury tax kicked in.

Bottom line to the bottom line: It’s not necessarily how much money you spend that counts, but rather who and what you spend it on!   

Last Week’s Trivia

          Dan Marino had 67 300+ yard games in his 15-year career at Miami, 63 in regular season and four in playoffs.

Trivia Question of the Week

          There’s more than one brother combination in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Half of this one gained prominence as the star center for the Boston Bruins. The other half of this brother duet was an outstanding goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks. Name them. See next week’s Sports Junkie for the answer.