http://baseball.about.com/od/newsrumors/a/2011-Baseball-Team-Payrolls.htm

http://www.arbitron.com/home/mm001050.asp

I reviewed the above two sources:

1. 2011 opening day MLB team salaries
2. Market size rankings from Arbitron Radio (based on population sizes of each market)

Below is a list of MLB teams ranked from highest payroll to lowest payroll. The first number in each parenthesis is what order they rank in team salary and the second number is what order they rank in market size.

New York Yankees (1, 1)
Philadelphia (2, 8)
Boston (3, 10)
Los Angeles Angels (4, 2)
Chicago White Sox (5, 3)
Chicago Cubs (6, 3)
New York Mets (7, 1)
San Francisco (8, 4)
Minnesota (9, 16)
Detroit (10, 11)
St. Louis (11, 21)
Los Angeles Dodgers (12, 2)
Texas (13, 5)
Colorado (14, 19)
Atlanta (15, 7)
Seattle (16, 13)
Milwaukee (17, 38)
Baltimore (18, 22)
Cincinnati (19, 28)
Houston (20, 6)
Oakland (21, ?)
Washington (22, 9)
Toronto (23, ?)
Florida (24, 12)
Arizona (25, 15)
Cleveland (26, 29)
Pittsburgh (27, 25)
San Diego (28, 17)
Tampa Bay (29, 20)
Kansas City (30, 32)

Hero teams that are stepping up in payroll.....Minnesota, St Louis, Colorado, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati.

Dog teams that are not spending according to market size.......LA Dodgers (they should be around 150M+ according to their size and what other teams are spending), Texas (even though they have stepped up big time this year in spending - still not enough), Atlanta, Houston (didnt realize they were the 6th largest market), Washington, Florida (people call them small market?), Arizona, and San Diego.

I can not fault the Pirates too much when it comes to money. They have increased their payroll +31.8% vs last year (only behind Texas +67% and LA Dodgers +32%).

I believe this list proves my belief - Implement a cap AND A FLOOR or get rid of the teams where either the market is too small or they are not spending enough.

A couple of notes - Toronto wasnt listed, so not sure. Oakland wasnt listed and was not grouped with SF either so not sure about that market as well.

Also - Puerto Rico is the 14 largest market - no team. Portland and Charlotte are boh bigger than Pittsburgh - no team.

I would love for MLB to implement a salary cap so the Phils, Sox and Yanks simply don't own baseball anymore. Ain't gonna happen because of the players union. Plain and simple. They are too strong. And that sucks.

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baseball isnt going to change until something breakdowns
they believe from the top that big name teams are good for the league -- they do not believe in NFL like parity
i disagree with them but as sales are strong the FO wont buck it

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“White collar conservative flashin down the street, pointing that plastic finger at me, they all assume my kind will drop and die, but I'm gonna wave my freak flag high.”
Jimi Hendrix

I think you'll find the sox in a top 5 market share.....maybe top 1
If you view it as all of new england

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SteelerTilIDie: Steeler Einstein
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You may not be able to fault the Pirates for spending closer to their market size this season....you can fault them for spending the money on useless players.

Overbay 5 million, Diaz 2 million

That's a good chunk right there.

Player evaluation is half of their problem.

I find that funny because I happen to be very good friends with one of their player scouts.

Good guy, but I wouldn't want him in charge of anything.

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Exactly. These radio markets don't really reflect an MLB market. For example Philadelphia would also include many smaller markets such as Allentown, Atlantic City, and Harrisburg, and probably at least a split of the Trenton market. And the Brewers get to tap into some fairly sizable markets in Wisconsin like Oshkosh, Madison, and Greenbay. It is revenue not market size that determines what you can spend. Although market size has some bearing on revenue it isn't the end all and be all. As recently as 10 years ago the Phillies had basically the same attendance as the Bucs with a very comparable payroll.

Congratulations St Louis Cardinals!

Great performance! One of the best WS I have ever seen.

St. Louis - 21st biggest market in the USA - Pittsburgh a few spots behind them - yet they have the 11th highest payroll in the league.

Pittsburgh could be St Louis....with the right kind of management.....Pittsburgh could and should have this kind of success.

I agree, Suwannee.

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Playing football was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. If I could go out today and suit up, I would do it.--Jack Butler