The Guardians may be going “under the radar”, but that doesn’t stop them from making a lot of noise to the point of becoming the most profitable franchise so far in 2024.
The New York Yankees, of the American Leagueand the Philadelphia Phillies, of the National League, share the best record in the Major Leagues (MLB)while the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Phillies have the greatest advantage of a divisional leader and the Baltimore Orioles with the looser position in the wild card zone.
But when it comes to investment and results (what they call cost-effectiveness in commercial jargon) none are close to the Cleveland Guardians, who command the Central Division of the young circuit with the third best record in MLB (40-20, .667) despite operating with the third lowest player payroll ($103.3 million) in the entire industry.
Cleveland, which has a five-game lead over the Kansas City Royals in the division race, is only paying more in players this year than the Oakland Athletics ($67 million) and the Pittsburgh Pirates ($91.2 million), according to Spotrac.com. Oakland (24-38) and Pittsburgh (28-32) have records more in line with their investment.
Among the teams that occupy postseason positions today, Cleveland is followed in profitability by the Milwaukee Brewers (36-25), who lead the National League Central Division with a six-game lead over the Chicago Cubs, and the Orioles (39-20), who trail the Yankees in the American League Eastbut they are 6.5 games ahead of their closest pursuer for the first wild card of the young circuit.
Next we have three clubs that are from the middle of the table down in player spending: The Royals (36-26) and the Minnesota Twins (33-27), who occupy the other two Wild Card spots in the AL , and the Seattle Mariners (35-27), who beat the champions Texas Rangers by 5.5 games in the West of that same league.
Milwaukee is number 23 in MLB in player budget, with $117.2 million, while Baltimore is one step higher, with $118.4 million. Minnesota is number 19 with $135 million and Seattle is number 18 with $138.2 million.
The Yankees (43-19) not only guide the divisional leaders, but also to the entire MLB, with a payroll of $307.3 million. Among the division leaders, the Dodgers ($297 million) and the Phillies ($248.7) and the National League wild cards; Cubs ($233.8 million), Atlanta Braves ($233 million) and San Diego Padres ($163.3 million).
Chicago is the seventh most expensive team in MLB in 2024, Atlanta is eighth and San Diego is number 15, exactly in the equator between the most aggressive and the most conservative. Baseball’s average payroll this year is $174 million.
Philadelphia (43-19) and Los Angeles (38-24) have a seven-game lead in their divisions over Atlanta and San Diego, respectively, which is currently the greatest distance from a zone leader.
On the other side of the coin, the New York Mets ($302.2), who besides the Yankees are the only ones with a budget exceeding $300 million, the Houston Astros ($270.9 million) and the Rangers ($236.5 million), are widely the least profitable teams in baseball for now.
The Mets (26-35) are 16.5 games out of first place in the East of the NationalHouston (28-34) rank third in the American Westseven games behind Seattle, and Texas (29-32) is right on top of its state neighbors.
The Toronto Blue Jays (28-32) and San Francisco Giants (29-33) are the only other clubs with payrolls over $200 million who are playing below .500 and are outside the zone. playoffs right now. Toronto ($232 million) and San Francisco ($227.5 million) are ninth and 10th in player budgets, respectively, on the season.
