The Yankees And a Decade of Decadence

This just in… The New York Yankees spend wildly on player payroll.

That statement may not be surprising to most, but it could be if you look at player payroll over the course of several years.

To be exact, I have now have pulled together end of year payroll figures for the last decade. In looking over the totals, this much is clear: the Yankees spend, and outspend all comers by a considerable margin.

To place this in perspective, the Yankees have never ranked any lower than 2nd in total player payroll at the end of a season since 1999. At the end of the 2001 season they had a player payroll of $114,457,768, second only to the Dodgers at $115,478,346.

But, what should show how much more George Steinbrenner and Co. enjoy spending is that the Yankees have spent over 42 percent more than the Red Sox over the last decade, and have exceptionally close outcomes:

World Series Wins
Yankees: 2
Red Sox: 2

ALCS Champions:
Yankees: 4
Red Sox: 2

ALDS Champions:
Yankees: 4
Red Sox: 5

As they say, talk amongst ya selves. For those interested, the totals for each of the 30 clubs over the last decade are now available on The Biz of Baseball. Here’s end-of-year payrolls for the Yankees and Red Sox over the last decade:

Yankees EOY Payroll (1999-2008)
Year	Rank	EOY Payroll
2008	1	$222,519,480
2007	1	$218,311,394
2006	1	$207,461,320
2005	1	$207,152,931
2004	1	$187,918,394
2003	1	$180,322,403
2002	1	$133,429,757
2001	2	$114,457,768
2000	1	$95,285,187
1999	1	$91,990,955
	Total	$1,658,849,589

Red Sox EOY Payroll (1999-2008)
Year	Rank	EOY Payroll
2008	2	$147,075,645
2007	2	$155,402,595
2006	2	$137,497,097
2005	2	$116,640,070
2004	2	$130,395,386
2003	5	$104,873,607
2002	2	$110,249,535
2001	3	$114,331,641
2000	7	$75,525,525
1999	7	$72,330,656
	Total	$1,164,321,757

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Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer. Brown’s full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.