MLB does not have a salary cap. Teams can spend as much as they want on salaries for players. It is not uncommon, then, to hear people complain that baseball lacks parity and that high salary teams buy championships.
I think this claim is wrong, but because of time constraints, I can't argue for it in this post. Nevertheless, I think the following suggests that we ought to question this linkage between high salaries and team performance.
The following lists the top ten salary spenders for 2010 (according to http://www.benfry.com/salaryper/ ):
1. Yankees
2. Boston
3. Phillies
4. Chicago Cubs
5. Mets
6. Detroit
7. Chicago White Sox
8. Angeles
9. Giants
10. Twins
Only 4 of these teams made the playoffs: the Yankees, Phillies, Giants, and Twins.
The same pattern held in 2009:
Top Ten Salaries
1. Yankees
2. Mets
3. Cubs
4. Red Sox
5. Detroit
6. Angeles
7. Phillies
8. Houston
9. Dodgers
10. Seattle
Only 5 of these teams made the playoffs in 2009: Yankees, Red Sox, Angeles, Phillies, and Dodgers.
This is far from definitive, but it is suggestive that there is much more to fielding a successful team than paying high salaries.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Dr. Shawn E. Klein
Yesterday, Aug 17, I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation: "Seeing As and What If: Appreciation and Imagination in Moral Reasoning." Except for a few 'i's to dot and 't's to cross, I have fulfilled all the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy from Arizona State University. So, I will only respond to Dr. Klein for the next week. (j/k).
The defense was challenging, but in a geeky way was kind of fun (though not something I want to go through again!)
I started graduate school in 1998. I took several years off along the way, but that's still a long time. I am glad to be done!
Classes start up next week, but once things get underway, I hope to return to blogging regularly.
The defense was challenging, but in a geeky way was kind of fun (though not something I want to go through again!)
I started graduate school in 1998. I took several years off along the way, but that's still a long time. I am glad to be done!
Classes start up next week, but once things get underway, I hope to return to blogging regularly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)