The Los Angeles Dodgers punched their ticket to the NLCS on Friday night, knocking off the San Diego Padres in Game 5 of the divisional series. They will take on the New York Mets while the New York Yankees await the winner of Saturday’s game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians.
All three teams that have advanced to the League Championship Series share something in common — they topped the MLB in Opening Day payroll.
In sports… sometimes you have to spend money to make money.
3 highest payrolls in the MLB all headed to the divisional series. pic.twitter.com/OxvWQT0vjK
— Todd Wolfson (@CoachWolfson) October 12, 2024
Big market teams generally carry a big market payroll and it should come as no surprise that the Mets, Yankees, and Dodgers sit atop that list. In business, you’ve got to spend money to make money and much to the dismay of small market fans, these three clubs do it better than most. Or at least they have historically.
Despite the massive payrolls, there hasn’t been too much recent success in New York or Los Angeles. The most recent champions were the Dodgers in 2020 but before that, it was the Yankees all the way back in 2009. The Mets haven’t won it all since 1986.
Does that mean the playing field is even? Many would still argue that it’s not but all three clubs operate within the rules. That’s sure to rub many fans outside of those markets the wrong way, which is why either the Tigers (24th in payroll) and Guardians (28th in payroll) will be the adopted underdog by most MLB fans over the next week-plus.
But no matter how things ultimately shake out in the ALCS, at least one of the top three Opening Day payrolls will be represented in the 2024 World Series.
