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:

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.