You can almost hear the griping now.
If the Los Angeles Dodgers continue through the MLB playoffs and win the World Series, as they have the past two seasons, you can imagine the string of complaints from detractors.
Chief among them will be the team’s gargantuan payroll.
According to Spotrac, the Dodgers are first in MLB with a payroll of more than $380 million. Detroit, by comparison, is the 10th highest in the league and sits at just under $200 mil.
That’s a giant difference. And people love to point it out.
But if you keep scrolling down, down, down the Spotrac list, you’ll eventually get to the Tampa Bay Rays, which boasts only the 23rd highest payroll at about $107 million.
And you know what’s incredible? Depending on what sportsbook you check, the Dodgers and the Rays are the most likely World Series matchup in a couple weeks.
Can you imagine? Someone get George Lucas on the phone—the series is practically a plot of Star Wars. The evil empire versus the upstart little guy.
But Tampa isn’t the only team bucking the odds.
In the AL, the Cleveland Guardians had the lowest payroll in MLB this year at just under $80 million and they still made the playoffs. In the NL, Milwaukee, another 2026 World Series hopeful, had the 19th most expensive roster.
Of course, these numbers are ironic given that all the talk around MLB this season is about how there is going to be a long, drawn out labor dispute in the offseason. The crux of the issue? You guessed it!
The players don’t want a cap (the workforce wants to make as much money as possible), but some of the owners—particularly in smaller markets—are complaining that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox can outspend them in multiples.
But herein lies the real problem.
Tampa Bay and their No. 23 payroll may just win the World Series this year. And if they don’t, it will nevertheless mark the umpteenth time the team from Florida has been in contention with a miniscule dinner bill of a payroll. But the Rays are famous for finding creative ways to compete and staying committed to developing younger players who can fit within that payroll structure.
If Los Angeles and New York meet for the title this fall, the owners may have an argument. If it’s Milwaukee and Tampa Bay? The labor dispute might be a lot shorter than expected.
And do you know what could be even more compelling? An L.A. versus Tampa World Series with the Rays taking it home in seven games. Wow.
But regardless of the World Series outcome this year, I think it’s important to remember the greater issue playing out during these MLB playoffs. Before I highlight it, though, let me first be clear: I am not necessarily pro-owner, nor am I necessarily pro-player. I do, however, balk at the idea of built-in excuses.
Too often in business (even in sports) we look for ways to excuse losing results. We look for the things (like resources) that we DON’T have and make them our focus. Too often we’re looking to negotiate those preconceived “disadvantages” into our environments as a reason why we can’t compete with the big boys.
Oh, we work for a company one-third the size of our competition… Our leader just left to go to work for the bad guys…We have this problem, or that problem… Like I said above, you can almost hear the griping.
But Tampa Bay is yet again proving it’s not about what you spend in a calendar year, it’s about not letting disparities with your competition define you.
Now, just go out and win the Tampa Bay Way!
