The Dodgers this season "are ending the Yankees' 15-year streak as baseball's biggest spenders," and, as of yesterday, had a projected payroll of $235M, according to data cited by Ronald Blum of the AP. The Yankees organization, which "last failed to top the payroll rankings" in '98, was a "distant second" at $204M. After that, it "was another huge gap" to the Phillies at $180M, followed by the Red Sox at $163M and the Tigers at $162M. The Astros organization "is last" at $45M, up from $27M at the start of last year, and the Marlins at $48M remain 29th. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said, "I don't think the guys worry about it. I know we don't worry about it. We're expected to win, and that's how we go about it. Money doesn't mean you win. Money just means you have a chance to get the best players." The figures cited by Blum "include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income for players on active rosters, disabled lists and the restricted list." Parts of deferred money for some players "are discounted to reflect current values." Payroll figures "factor in adjustments for cash transactions in trades, signing bonuses that are the responsibility of the club agreeing to the contract, option buyouts, and termination pay for released players" (AP, 3/25). ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd noted of the top five payrolls "over a 10-year period, 25 of those payrolls made the playoffs, 25 did not make the playoffs. That’s exactly how it should be. You want to know who is favored in the AL East this year? Tampa Bay. You want to know is who picked second in the AL West? Oakland Athletics. Money creates headaches" ("The Herd," ESPN Radio, 3/26).
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A DISAGREEMENT: In Houston, Evan Drellich noted the numbers cited by the AP "may work for comparisons of players who are currently on the Astros," but team GM Jeff Luhnow "doesn’t put much stock in them." Luhnow yesterday said, "Outside accounting methods are estimates and don’t accurately reflect total payroll costs." For example, the AP's Astros calculation "does not appear to include" the $5.5M of P Wandy Rodriguez’ salary this season the Astros owe the Pirates. Luhnow in February said that the team's "actual end-of-year payroll expenditure will be in the range" of $50-60M. Astros Owner Jim Crane last weekend said, "We caught a lot of heat on the low payroll, but last year you could make a case he (Luhnow) couldn’t efficiently spend it. You saw us spend some money this year. I think we’ll reassess where we’re at this year, and the business plan was to spend more money next year until we get … what we need" (CHRON.com, 3/25).
