Quick comment on MLB divisions

We’re a little more than 40% of the way into the major league baseball season. The statistics and records are starting to matter.

I noticed today that four of the five teams in the American League East (ALE) division have more wins than losses. Two other divisions, the National League West and the NLE have three teams with more wins than losses. That’s hard to do by the end of the year because almost half of games are played within a division – and, of course, the winning percentage within a division is exactly .500.  For every division game, one team wins and one teams loses, for a net nothing for the division, though (again), of course, it is a net positive or negative for the teams involved.

I decided to do some quick math. I don’t think it proves anything, but it is interesting, and if I don’t post this tonight, the information will be obsolete by morning.

Division	Wins	Payroll	Millions
		(millions)	per win
ALE	191	677	3.54
NLW	181	767	4.24
NLE	173	753	4.35
ALW	157	575	3.66
ALC	154	549	3.56
NLC	152	551	3.63

As you can see, the ALE has more wins than any other division. The NLW is a clear second and the NLE is a clear third. The other three divisions (the AL west and both central divisions) are clumped together, at a significantly lower level, in both wins and total payroll.

Total team payroll is wildly uneven. The Los Angeles Dodgers spend the most, with a payroll in excess of $289 million. The Pittsburgh Pirates spend the least, a bit under $38 million. This disparity is impossible in the other three big leagues in our country (NFL, NBA, and NHL), because each of those leagues has a salary cap and a salary floor.

Here’s the really interesting takeaway: the (so far) clearly best division, the ALE, does not spend more per win than the three worst divisions. That is amazing – and subject to change.

The ALE is comprised of perennial spending juggernauts like the Yankees ($198 million) and Red Sox ($182 million), who are followed closely by the Blue Jays ($166 million). The ALE also has two teams who are usually at the bottom of team payroll: the Rays ($86 million) and the Orioles ($45 million, just above the sad sack Pirates). (All salary information is from one of the greatest websites of all time: baseball-reference.com.) The ALE’s overall spending is basically half-way between the high spending NLW and NLE and the other three divisions. (Flyover country – the two central divisions – almost always spend less money than the “coastal” divisions.)

What to make of this:  not too much, though I do feel sorry for the Orioles. They have a decent record, with 30 wins against 38 losses, and they play in the toughest division and have a miniscule payroll. I wonder what their record would be if they were in a weak division?

It’s not quite July and the season isn’t yet half over. But so far, game results suggest that the ALE teams are spending their money wisely and that the NLW and NLE teams may be overpaying, but at least they are getting wins.