Published figures today basically show that the massive television contracts individual teams in Major League Baseball have been receiving have destroyed any semblance of fiscal control left in the sport.
Just three years ago, 9 of the thirty teams had payrolls over $100,000,000, and half were under $85,000,000.
Two years ago, it was about half over $100,000,000 (14) and half under $85,000,000 (13).
This year, TWENTY-TWO franchises have payrolls over $100,000,000 and only three (the Marlins, Astros, and Rays) were below $85,000,000.
Three years ago, the median payroll was about $100,000,000 -- this year, it's over $114,000,000.
And we all know where it's coming from -- it's the TV deals.
And why are teams spending?
One reason the ESPN report points to is the Play-In Game. That, out of either 14 or 16 teams, five now get to play into or be directly in the playoffs every year is changing the landscape of the mentality of a lot of these teams, at least in the middle or lower end of the scale.
Why? Because, of the 12 highest-ranked payrolls, only two won a playoff game last year.
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