It’s easy, and fair, to criticize Pirates management for being cheap and dooming the franchise to futility.
But, in the sense of fair play, this current three-game series with the San Diego Padres is in-your-face evidence that simply spending more money doesn’t guarantee success in baseball.
Consider that the Padres already have lost two games to the Pirates, by a cumulative score of 16-5, as they try to salvage one win in a Thursday afternoon series finale. Now, factor in that, according to USA Today’s opening-day figures, the Padres had a payroll of just a tick under $249 million to begin the season, third highest in Major League Baseball.
Meanwhile, the Pirates’ opening day payroll was a mere $73.3 million, 27th among 30 MLB teams.
A look at the season picture makes it even worse for the Padres, who with that Wednesday night loss had a record of 37-43. The Pirates were a tick better at 37-42.
Imagine ownership and management of the Padres, not to mention the fans, wondering where all the money went. In that way, they are not that much different than the average inquiring citizen marveling at how their state and federal governments can spend vast sums of tax money unwisely.
But, let’s get back to baseball. The Padres are not alone in having huge salaries producing relatively tiny results.
The highest team salary to begin the 2023 season belonged to the New York Mets, at a whopping $353.5 million. As of Thursday morning, that money had bought a 36-44 record and fourth place in the NL East Division standings.
The New York Yankees, who have been in the top three of team salaries every season but one since 2013, were second to begin 2023 at a payroll of nearly $277 million. The Yankees begin play Thursday with a 44-36 record, third best in the AL East.
On the flip side, the runaway leaders in getting big results with a modest payroll are the Tampa Bay Rays. They have the most wins in MLB with 55, are tied for the best winning percentage with Atlanta at .663, and lead the AL East by five full games over Baltimore. More on the Orioles later.
Tampa Bay has accomplished all this with a payroll of roughly $73.2 million, a bit less than that of the Pirates and 28th overall in MLB.
In that same AL East, Baltimore has a record of 48-31, good for second place, with a payroll figure of $60.7 million, 29th in MLB.
To recap, the Rays and Orioles have combined to spend about one-half of what the Yankees have spent, and have produced more than twice as many wins.
Now, can either of these payroll overachievers turn it into a World Series win? That would be historic by recent standards.
There have been five times in the past 10 seasons, including the past two running, that the eventual winner of the World Series had a payroll outside baseball’s Top 10. The lowest was Houston in 2017, with a payroll rated 18th in MLB.
The Astros also won it all last year with a payroll rated 11th and the Atlanta Braves won the World Series in 2021 with a payroll 13th among MLB.
The Tampa Bay Rays with a payroll ranking of No. 28, are proving yet again that they can be successful on an even more modest budget. That, combined with the failure of the big spenders in this and other recent years, is evidence that the Pirates could and should be doing better, even without spending the big money.
Sam Ross Jr's site 