By Wyatt Smith (Clickege)
The key to winning in baseball has changed lately, suddenly big market teams are looking at less wealthy franchises with envy.
Being successful in baseball requires more than just money these days. Four of the six teams with the highest payrolls in 2012 didn't make the playoffs, while the team with the second lowest payroll in baseball over-achieved by many peoples' standards by making the postseason. The teams not making the playoffs a year ago, being the Angels, Rangers, Phillies, and Red Sox, and the team with the second lowest payroll in baseball was the Oakland Athletics. Now you could say that one team doesn't make this any sort of trend. But, over the past 3 seasons the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, and Cincinatti Reds have all attended the playoffs while competing with big market, big spending teams in their divisions.
The biggest spenders in baseball, (Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies) have declined in recent years for many reasons. The most obvious and predictable, age. Once the money really started to flow in for these teams and free agency became more and more like an auction, the past 10 years belonged to these three behemoths of baseball. But the criticism was always thrown out there because these lengthy contracts would one come back to haunt them.
Examples; Signing a 32-year old Alex Rodriguez to a ten year contract, paying Ryan Howard 25 million a year until he's 37, paying a declining Jimmy Rollins 11 million a year until he's 37. While the Red Sox shipped away their own terrible long-term deals to the Dodgers, they did try to buy a championship in one offseason while hiring an eccentric manager that only caused turmoil. Now all of these teams are between a rock and a hard place trying to build a contender with less cap room because their "stars" that are older now are being overpaid.
So how does the 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, and 29th highest payroll teams
all make it to the playoffs in one year? Well, there's a few reasons.
One, is being patient and developing young talent. A great example is
the Cincinatti Reds. who's last eight first round draft picks have all
made it into the majors by now. The Orioles core of young players, being
Matt Weiters, Adam Jones, Manny Machado, and Nick Markakis, are all
home-grown and have progressed tremendously through their system. The
Nationals had two first overall picks in a row and two years later had
the best record in National League.
Another thing all of these teams have done is not tie themselves into long term, nightmare contracts. Waiting for draft picks and prospects from trades to pan out, instead of trying to hit it big in free agency by signing a 32 year old to a ridiculous deal, has started to pay dividends. This offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays had the flexibility and talented farm system to go out and make a mega deal that has propelled them to be the favorites in the AL East. The Royals had more than enough cap room and prospects so they shipped out some young guys for an established big league pitcher in James Shields. The Braves, with a low enough payroll were able to ship out highly touted prospects for a potential superstar in Justin Upton.
Suddenly the MLB has gone from "Whoever is willing to spend the most" to "Whoever manages and builds their team the right way." The Yankees are looking weaker than ever because they don't want to go over the luxury tax, the Red Sox revamped their entire clubhouse desperately trying to find the right group of players, and the Dodgers have had everyone saying "Where will all this money come from?" but they couldn't even make the playoffs last year with a star-studded team.
Now, determined and smart franchises are enjoying success at a low cost. The Tampa Bay Rays have possibly the worst fanbase and stadium, but Joe Maddon is a genius, they have the best front office in the game, and are focused on winning. Using anything from sabermetrics to cutting edge technology, the game is becoming more advanced and small market teams are taking advantage of growing opportunities to do well. Having money always helps, but it's not the answer anymore. The key to winning and winning for a long time has changed, and almost any team can take advantage of this if they choose to do so.
The key to winning in baseball has changed lately, suddenly big market teams are looking at less wealthy franchises with envy.
Being successful in baseball requires more than just money these days. Four of the six teams with the highest payrolls in 2012 didn't make the playoffs, while the team with the second lowest payroll in baseball over-achieved by many peoples' standards by making the postseason. The teams not making the playoffs a year ago, being the Angels, Rangers, Phillies, and Red Sox, and the team with the second lowest payroll in baseball was the Oakland Athletics. Now you could say that one team doesn't make this any sort of trend. But, over the past 3 seasons the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, and Cincinatti Reds have all attended the playoffs while competing with big market, big spending teams in their divisions.
The biggest spenders in baseball, (Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies) have declined in recent years for many reasons. The most obvious and predictable, age. Once the money really started to flow in for these teams and free agency became more and more like an auction, the past 10 years belonged to these three behemoths of baseball. But the criticism was always thrown out there because these lengthy contracts would one come back to haunt them.
Examples; Signing a 32-year old Alex Rodriguez to a ten year contract, paying Ryan Howard 25 million a year until he's 37, paying a declining Jimmy Rollins 11 million a year until he's 37. While the Red Sox shipped away their own terrible long-term deals to the Dodgers, they did try to buy a championship in one offseason while hiring an eccentric manager that only caused turmoil. Now all of these teams are between a rock and a hard place trying to build a contender with less cap room because their "stars" that are older now are being overpaid.
Another thing all of these teams have done is not tie themselves into long term, nightmare contracts. Waiting for draft picks and prospects from trades to pan out, instead of trying to hit it big in free agency by signing a 32 year old to a ridiculous deal, has started to pay dividends. This offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays had the flexibility and talented farm system to go out and make a mega deal that has propelled them to be the favorites in the AL East. The Royals had more than enough cap room and prospects so they shipped out some young guys for an established big league pitcher in James Shields. The Braves, with a low enough payroll were able to ship out highly touted prospects for a potential superstar in Justin Upton.
Suddenly the MLB has gone from "Whoever is willing to spend the most" to "Whoever manages and builds their team the right way." The Yankees are looking weaker than ever because they don't want to go over the luxury tax, the Red Sox revamped their entire clubhouse desperately trying to find the right group of players, and the Dodgers have had everyone saying "Where will all this money come from?" but they couldn't even make the playoffs last year with a star-studded team.
Now, determined and smart franchises are enjoying success at a low cost. The Tampa Bay Rays have possibly the worst fanbase and stadium, but Joe Maddon is a genius, they have the best front office in the game, and are focused on winning. Using anything from sabermetrics to cutting edge technology, the game is becoming more advanced and small market teams are taking advantage of growing opportunities to do well. Having money always helps, but it's not the answer anymore. The key to winning and winning for a long time has changed, and almost any team can take advantage of this if they choose to do so.
