The difference is only $182,492,435

AP reports that the Florida Marlins again finished with the lowest payroll in baseball last year coming in at $37,532,482. The difference between them and the top-spending Yankees was a mere $182,492,435.

Think about it. These two teams are competing in the same league.*

You know, if you make the kids start paying, you might have a few more dollars.**

Just sayin.

*No, I am not talking about the "American League" and "National League" but you get the picture.

**From a selfish perspective as a father of two young baseball fans, I don't think kids should pay for anything but still....

The Pirates are going to be great next year!

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pirates are interested in the following free agents:

Xavier Nady (Lost season in 2009 due to injury)
Rick Ankiel (11 home runs, 38 rbis, .231 batting average in 2009)
Bobby Crosby (8 home runs, 31 rbis, .223 batting average in 2009)*
Ron Villone (40 year old middle reliever)

This from a team that received $35 million in revenue sharing from the league last year but had a $25 million payroll at the end of the year after unloading all of their decent players.

And the Pirates have fans why?

*He could provide "protection" for Ankiel in the batting order. I get it.

Ken Rosenthal says the Tigers need to trade Miguel Cabrera

Ok, it is no secret that the Tigers have put Curtis Granderson, Edwin Jackson, Gerald Laird and Brandon Inge on the trading block because of payroll considerations.

Further, Placido Polanco, Fernando Rodney and perhaps Brandon Lyon will not be resigned for the same reason.

Now Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports says the Tigers should move Miguel Cabrera to free up some salary.

You know the Tigers once had a pretty good team. Like as recently as well.....last year.

Good year for Edwin Jackson! Get rid of him then.

FoxSports.com is reporting that the Detroit Tigers are putting pitcher, Edwin Jackson on the trade market to "alleviate (its) payroll crunch." Jackson made $2.2 million last year and is arbitration-eligible and likely would get around $5 million through the arbitration process. ($5 million for a quality starting pitcher! You've got to do something about that!)

Jackson was 13-9 last year and had a 3.62 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Without him, the Tigers are not playing in Game 163 for a shot at the playoffs.

The Tigers apparently cannot keep such an affordable quality starting pitcher because they must keep the following 2009 underachievers who are on the back-end of long-term contracts:

Dontrelle Willis: 1-4, 7.49 ERA, 1.93 WHIP*, ($12 million due in 2010)
Nate Robertson: 2-3, 5,44 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, ($7 million due in 2010)
Jeremy Bonderman: 0-1, 8.71 ERA, 2.32 WHIP** ($12.5 million due to 2010)

Isn't that special?

And just how much are our season tickets going to increase next year?

* A 1.93 WHIP!
** The Tigers really got it going on with WHIP! Almost 2.5 runners an inning!

The Yankees' payroll (kind of) exceeds that of the All Star team

Per bugsandcranks.com, the average salary of a 2009 All Star is $7,404,184 which is $410,917 less than what the average New York Yankee makes - $7,748,046.

I guess I should be all "outraged" about this but considering that the Yankees have not won a World Series since 2000 and didn't even make the playoffs last year, I have to put this in the "so it is" file.

I suppose you could say that this championship drought by the Yankees is proof that they do not spend wisely on their payroll but they are a profitable franchise and I think much of that profit is generated by the "star power" of their lineup so I don't know that this argument works; from a business standpoint anyway.

The more I think about it, this may more properly belong in the "whatever" file and I guess I will have to give a little more thought to the proper filing of this interesting factoid.