Once again, the Angels have shown how to waste money. In 2023, they had a payroll of $230.5 million and 73 victories – meaning they paid $3.15 million per victory. Only the hapless Yankees and Mets paid more per victory – and none of them made the playoffs.
Contrast that with the Orioles who paid $700,000 per victory and the Rays who shelled out $800,000 – and made the playoffs. They didn’t get to the make the World Series, which featured two wild card teams with hot hands (D-backs who paid $1.4 million per win and the big-bucks rangers, who paid $2.8 million).
Still, Tampa Bay has been constant achievers: Making the playoffs five straight years, with the lowest or close-to-lowest cost per victory in the MLB.
Meanwhile, the Angels have consistently had close to the highest cost-per-win and haven’t gotten to the post-season in a decade. In the six years I’ve been measuring cost-win, the Angels have finished (out of 30 teams) 28th, 25th, 28th, 23rd 26th and 26th. No team has spent more over those six seasons without making the playoffs at least once.
The full analysis of all 30 teams with salaries and wins (plus a special look at how the champion Rangers spent their money) is available on my blog: https://marlinsmaniacs.blogspot.com.
