Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Marketing Manager and Baseball Neophyte
Much like Laura concluded last year, the baseball teams we love the most are, for the most part, the teams with the highest-paid rosters.
But times are tough, people! And baseball is very much a business. So in that sense, it not how much you win or lose, it’s how much money you can generate … er… it’s how much you are “loved.”
Thanks to CBS Sports’ 2010 MLB Team Pay Rankings, I was able to do a little hypothesizing, as to which teams are a “good value” based on their pay ranking AND where they fall in our annual Harris Poll “Favorite Baseball Teams” study.
The Question: Do the pay rankings for MLB teams synch up with how much they are loved? Are some teams overpaid, yet underloved? Are some teams overloved and underpaid? And whch teams have it all figured out?
Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you, my "Best Values in the MLB" chart...which teams are home runs in terms of value and which ones strike out?
Team Favorite Ranking Pay Ranking 2010 Home Run or Strike?* New York Yankees 1 1 - Boston Red Sox 2 2 - Atlanta Braves 3 15 Home Run Philadelphia Phillies 4 4 - Chicago Cubs 5 3 Strike New York Mets 6 5 Strike San Francisco Giants 7 10 Home Run Los Angeles Dodgers 8 12 Home Run Minnesota Twins 9 11 Home Run St. Louis Cardinals 10 13 Home Run Milwaukee Brewers 11 18 Home Run Detroit Tiger 12 6 Strike Seattle Mariners 12 9 Strike Texas Rangers 12 27 Home Run Chicago White Sox 15 7 Strike Cincinnati Reds 16 19 Home Run Cleveland Indians 17 24 Home Run Arizona Diamondbacks 18 25 Home Run Kansas City Royals 19 20 Home Run Colorado Rockies 20 16 Strike Baltimore Orioles 20 17 Strike Tampa Bay Rays 22 21 Strike Oakland Athletics 23 28 Home Run San Diego Padres 23 29 Home Run Los Angeles Angels 25 8 Strike Pittsburgh Pirates 25 30 Home Run Washington Nationals 27 23 Strike Houston Astros 28 14 Strike Florida Marlins 29 26 Strike Toronto Blue Jays** 30 22 -
**Left the Blue Jays “unjudged”, as we don’t really know where they lie in the “favorite” ranking – this survey was conducted among U.S. adults, so it’s not surprising a Canadian team is at the bottom. Plus, who even knows if their pay ranking was converted from Canadian dollars?
Okay, so I really know nothing about baseball “home runs” or “strike outs,” per se. However, I speculate that teams do NOT become favorites because of their performance. Hence, why the Chicago Cubs are high on the favorite and pay list, while other, more recently "successful" teams still don’t get nearly as much love (think: World Series ’02 Champs, the Los Angeles Angels; World Series ’03 Champs, the Florida Marlins and ’05 Champs, the Chicago White Sox.
As you can see, very few teams have pay that coincides with their popularity… but those who have found an equilibrium tend to be near the very top of both the favorites and pay list (think: Yanks, BoSox, Phillies). The question is – does popularity eventually lead to higher pay? Or, does higher pay ensure more popularity?
Which came first – the chicken or the pay?
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