What The 2024 World Series Taught Us

This year’s World Series featured the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Heading into the 2024 season, both teams were inside the top three in payroll. They both continued to add to their payroll last offseason and during the trade deadline. The same cannot be said for Major League Baseball’s 28 other clubs. If there is a lesson that all teams can take from watching this season’s Fall Classic, it is they must be willing to spend money to have a chance at winning a championship.

Four Of The Six Division Winners Spent Significantly

Out of all six teams that won their division in 2024, four of them had a payroll that was ranked inside the top ten in all of baseball. Those teams were the Yankees, Dodgers, Astros, and Phillies. The only two teams to have a low payroll and win their divisions were the Guardians and Brewers. However, most of the teams in the two central divisions were either rebuilding, underperforming, or had similar-sized payrolls.

The Teams That Spent Mostly Had Postseason Success

The Mets, Padres, and Braves were the only wild-card teams that spent a significant amount of money. All the other postseason teams were near the bottom half of the league in payroll. Those teams were the Orioles, Tigers, and Royals. However, all three of those teams wouldn’t get passed the Wild Card round or ALDS. Out of all the non-spending teams, it was the Cleveland Guardians who had the deepest run advancing to the ALCS. However, they’d be eliminated relatively quickly by the Yankees.

There were only two instances where the high-spending team didn’t prevail in the postseason. It happened both times in the Wild Card round. The Padres dispatched an injury-riddled Braves team and Detroit upset the AL West division-winning Houston Astros. Apart from those two matchups, the team with the much larger payroll prevailed. This was a common occurrence in the 2024 postseason. The high-spending Yankees, Dodgers, and Mets all had deep playoff runs. The World Series would feature the Yankees and Dodgers who were second and third in payroll respectively. The Dodgers payroll doesn’t include the controversial deferrals that they added into both Shohei Ohtani’s and Teoscar Hernandez’s contracts.

High Spending Teams Generally Win Championships

In the past ten years, there have only been two World Series winners that finished toward the bottom half of the league in payroll. This happened in 2015 and 2017 when the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros won it all during those seasons respectively. However, Kansas City is the only bottom-half payroll team that won it the right way. In the other eight World Series, the winning team has had a payroll that is at least inside the top ten. This means we probably won’t see teams like the Rays, Twins, or Brewers hoisting the commissioner’s trophy.

Other Teams Can Afford To Spend They Just Don’t

Over the years, lower-spending teams have constantly used excuses for why they can’t increase their payrolls. Their latest excuse not to spend more is the Reginal Sports Network crisis that is plaguing Major League Baseball. Owners like Stuart Sternberg, Jerry Reinsdorf, John Fisher, and Joe Pohlad have gotten their fans drunk on the “we can’t afford it” Kool-Aid. Those owners receive revenue share from the high-spending teams and are just pocketing the profit and lying about it. Late Padres owner Peter Seidler showed us all owners can spend the money they choose not to. While those cheap teams and their fans are crying about how unfair it is, those who are spending money are hoisting trophies, visiting the White House, and having parades.

A World Series Can’t Be Won Without Spending Money

The 2024 World Series taught us that a team must spend money to have a chance at winning a championship. Major League Baseball has an unhealthy number of teams unwilling to make the necessary financial commitment. While spending a lot of money doesn’t guarantee a World Series win, it still can be a major factor in why a team doesn’t have success. Apart from two wild card series, this postseason showed that a team that spent significantly more than the other will generally prevail. Unless those teams who aren’t spending change their ways, they’ll be on the couch watching another club that spends more lifting trophies and having parades.

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