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Actually, the answer to the question is "maybe." All you have to do is look at the ineptitude of the Baltimore Orioles over the last decade to see that a high payroll doesn't always translate into victories. They've spent, and their only championship quality is Boog Powell's barbecue. What a high payroll does do is give you a leg up on the teams with much lower ones; a chance at the prize. And it's really unfair to small market teams. This is coming from a Yankee fan, not an embittered Kansas City Royal fan. It's totally absurd that the pool of perennial title contenders will come from the teams that have the highest number of cable TV viewers. Yet that's the current state of affairs.

For a low budget team to contend, all their prospects have to develop at the same time. There's a really short window of opportunity to field a good team before these young players leave for greener pastures, or at least greener contracts. Signing them to early long term contracts can help, but it's hard to sign them all. The Twins and Athletics have done a remarkable job of fielding good teams with a low payroll, but they're the exceptions that prove the rule. High payroll may not win, but low payroll will almost always lose.

Revenue sharing is helping bring a little balance to the situation. At least it is when teams spend the added revenue on player contracts. The Milwaukee Brewers have been notorious at pocketing this money over the years, and their record over the last 10 years or so has been abysmal.

Spending money on premium free agents, particularly pitchers, is always a dicey business. Pitcher's arms have this annoying habit of falling off right after you've signed them to a five year deal. While there are actuarial tables on the lifespan of a pitcher's effectiveness, they're only useful in a general sense. Try this experiment: Pick any four starting pitchers you'd like on your team, and see how many games they win next year. You're probably banking on 60-70, but I'll bet the number will be in the 40's. This is because one of them will likely spend most of the year on the disabled list. Try it and see. GM's may make good money, but their job is real difficult to excel at.

Having buckets of money isn't enough to get you a championship, but it sure helps. Just ask any Pittsburgh Pirate or Tampa Bay Devil Ray fan.

Learn more about this author, Neil Wagner.
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