You have to spend money to make a championship caliber team. It’s the name of the game, if your favorite teams owner isn’t willing to shell out the cash then, unfortunately, you don’t have much of a shot at the World Series. It was a method truly popularized by the late, great New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, with people crowning his team “The Evil Empire.”
Of course, there are exceptions, like the previously known Florida Marlins (1997, 2003), the 2015 Royals, and the San Francisco Giants of the 2010s that won three World Series titles (2010, 2012, 2014). However, in today’s game, the cream of the crop open their wallets and try to get the best players on the market.
When you spend that kind of money, your fans expect results. There is a direct correlation between championship pressure and total team payroll.
Here are the top five teams that are under the most pressure to win the World Series heading into the 2023 season.
5. Los Angeles Angels
After the Seattle Mariners snapped their 20-season postseason drought, the Angels now hold the longest one in the MLB (tied with the Detroit Tigers). They also have Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, meaning arguably the top two players in the entire sport are on the Angels roster. While Trout was willing to sign a massive contract to stay in L.A., Ohtani has voiced that he intends to play for a contender. If the Angels want to keep both of their generational talents, forget about winning the World Series, they need to get to the playoffs first. If they can do that, who knows how far they go? But the pressure is certainly on for them to succeed.