Interesting study on salary

[southsider2k5]

Playing the percentages

Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez have changed agents in midseason, and more veterans will do the same. Agents can make promises and projections, but while Gonzalez has been a star and Pudge still may be, they are not going to get the three-, four-, five-year, $12-$17 million deals they once turned down. Really now, would you rather have Juan Gonzalez or David Ortiz, Kevin Millar, Todd Walker and Bill Mueller for less than what Juan Gone makes?

 

No one can quarrel with Alex Rodriguez. He is a great -- not good, great -- player who busts it out every day. But building a team when one player makes close to 24 percent of the team payroll is virtually impossible, especially when Chan Ho Park is as visible as Whitey Bulger and another $10 million was spent on pitchers who have been released.

 

Consider these facts, going back to 1985:

 

 

No team has won the World Series and had one (star) player making more than 15 percent of its payroll; technically Kevin Appier was 15.8 percent of Anaheim's 2002 payroll and Cecil Fielder was 15 percent of the '96 Yankees, but each were acquired in deals dumping salaries, and Anaheim saved money in the Appier-Mo Vaughn swap.

 

 

There have been 193 teams with (star) players who made more than 15 percent of their teams' payrolls. Of those 193, 61 had winning records, and of those, 15 made the postseason. Of those 15, two -- the '87 Cardinals with Ozzie Smith making 16.6 percent of their payroll, and the 2002 Giants with Bonds at 23.8 percent -- made the World Series. The '95 Mariners, with Griffey making 19.7 percent of payroll, was the only other team that won a playoff series.

 

The last 10 world champions:

 

 

Year, team Highest-paid player Pct. of payroll

2002 Angels Kevin Appier 15.8

2001 D-Backs Randy Johnson 13.7

2000 Yankees Bernie Williams 10.8

1999 Yankees Bernie Williams 10.7

1998 Yankees Bernie Williams 11.2

1997 Marlins Alex Fernandez 13.3

1996 Yankees Cecil Fielder* 15

1995 Braves Greg Maddux 11.7

1993 Blue Jays Joe Carter 10.6

1992 Blue Jays Jack Morris 9

1991 Twins Kirby Puckett 13.4

 

*Acquired on July 31 from Tigers for Ruben Sierra, who was making $6.2 million.

 

Then look where one "star" player took teams. Teams since 1985 with highest percentage of payroll invested in one player:

 

 

Year, team Player Pct. Record

1997 A's Jose Canseco 57.1 65-97

1992 Red Sox Frank Viola 50.8 73-89

1999 Marlins Alex Fernandez 42.6 64-98

1987 Pirates Steve Kemp 40.4 80-82

1995 Twins Kirby Puckett 40.4 56-88

1999 White Sox Frank Thomas 39.1 75-86

1998 Marlins Alex Fernandez 36.6 54-108

1996 Tigers Ruben Sierra 34.5 53-109

1995 Tigers Cecil Fielder 32.2 60-84

1999 Padres Tony Gwynn 31.8 61-101

 

And people wonder why Pat Gillick's Mariners lost Randy Johnson, Junior Griffey and Alex Rodriguez and have won the most games in the 21st century?

 

This further emphasizes the truths Gillick and others have held self-evident for a generation. Farm systems and talented non-arbitration players make veteran players affordable. The depth of a roster is extremely important, from the lineup to the pitching staff to the bench. Contracts of more than three years to players over 30 are foolhardy.

 

And throw this in: Going back to 1985, the World Series winners spent an average of 45 percent on pitching.

[SI1020]

Do you have a link that would provide info on players salaries? I'd like to go as far back as possible. In the meantime I'll try to find one myself and by the way, that was a real interesting post.

[southsider2k5]

I know baseball reference dot com has players salaries included in it. But it just runs through 2002.

[Carlo Paz]

Great post. Thanks for the info.