Tampa Bay Rays have chance to defeat top three payrolls in MLB
The Tampa Bay Rays have defeated taken down the first and third highest payrolls in Major League Baseball. The Dodgers would complete the top three.
The Tampa Bay Rays are through to the World Series, making their first appearance since 2008.
It is amazing to think that the Rays are in the World Series while being 28th in MLB payroll.
Tampa Bay Rays, 28th in MLB payroll, beat No. 1 (Yanks) and now No. 3 (Astros) in payroll to reach World Series. If they should meet & beat Dodgers in WS, they'd knock off No. 1-2-3 in salary. Just sayin', not predicting. Remarkable and worth all the praise they can be given!
— Thomas Boswell (@ThomasBoswellWP) October 18, 2020
As Boswell noted, the New York Yankees and Houston Astros were respectively first and third on the payroll rankings.
The Rays narrowly defeated the Yankees in game five of the ALDS. Then, they defeated the Astros in another close series, winning game seven to clinch a World Series birth.
More Rays. Arozarena heating up at right time. light
The Rays will face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series who have the second highest 28 man payroll.
It is truly amazing to look at the Rays’ salaries in comparison to some of the big market teams mentioned, especially considering that Charlie Morton has the highest salary on the team at $15 million.
The Rays have just two active players that have a double-digit millions base salary (Morton and Kiermaier).
The Yankees who have the largest payroll pay eight active players double-digit millions base salary.
What is even more shocking is the ALCS MVP’s base salary is $563,500. Randy Arozarena, the 25 year old rookie has one of the lowest base salaries on the Rays active roster.
The Rays have done such a great job putting together a young group of players that are MLB ready, and can make huge impacts.
There are some other teams that have cheap payrolls that made a 2020 playoff appearance as well. The Miami Marlins are 27th, just one ahead of the Rays.
The Oakland Athletics are 25th, the Cleveland Indians are 24th, the Milwaukee Brewers are 23rd, the Chicago White Sox are 20th, the Toronto Blue Jays are 19th, the Minnesota Twins are 18th, and the Cincinnati Reds are 17th.
The teams listed above are all below the league average salary ($59,381,321).
It is great to see low payroll teams representing in the postseason. Nine out of the sixteen playoff teams were below the league average payroll.
If the Rays can win the World Series, they would defeat the first, second, and third highest payroll teams in the 2020 postseason.
Fairbanks the epitome of the Rays. dark. Next
It is a good sign for the entire league to see where the Tampa Bay Rays are now. They are proving that payroll does not necessarily lead to success, and the lower payroll teams can still compete and be the best of the best.