LA Angels Wednesday News Crash: Worst of Times

Your comment about well-run teams like the Brewers making the playoffs and I decided to use AI to see what really works. Let me know what you think…

Here’s what I found on the correlation between payroll and playoff appearances in MLB over roughly the past 20 years, based on available analyses and datasets:

Summary of Findings (Approx. 2005–2024)1. Top-Spending Teams Generally Playoff-Bound
Data consistently show that teams with higher payrolls are more likely to make the postseason. For example, Reddit discussions and fan data from 2024 suggest that 7 of the top 10 payroll teams made the playoffs, while only 3 to 6 teams from the bottom 20 made it—indicating a significant tilt toward high spenders FanGraphs Baseball+11Reddit+11LinkedIn+11.
2. Still Room for Low-Budget Winners
Despite the spending disparity, several lower payroll teams still make the playoffs each year. In 2014 and 2015, for instance, half the playoff teams came from outside the top 10 payroll clusters RedditThe Point of Pittsburgh. That suggests payroll isn’t everything—smarts, player development, and team chemistry still matter.
3. Cumulative Spending vs. Single-Year Payroll
Some analyses show that cumulative spending over multiple seasons has a stronger—but still modest—correlation with postseason success than a single year’s payroll. This points to sustained investment being more predictive than one-off splurges soar.suny.edu+15Wikipedia+15Harvard Sports Analysis Collective+15The Wall Street Journal+11FanGraphs Baseball+11sports.betmgm.com+11.

What This Means for the Angels (and Us Fans)

1. Dumping a ton of cash increases the odds—but doesn’t guarantee playoff baseball.
2. Building smart—through development and savvy trades—can overcome budget constraints.
3. Over the last two decades, there’s a clear pattern: cheap wins still happen, but consistently winning usually requires investment.