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Do Baseball Team Salaries Correlate to Winning?

Do teams that spend more on player salaries win more games? The combined player salaries and win totals of all 30 Major League Baseball teams are presented below. Do you think there will be a correlation between higher salaries and winning?

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Baseball Team Salaries and Wins in 2012

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Baseball Team Combined Salaries (in millions of dollars) Total Wins
New York Yankees 198 95
Philadelphia Phillies 175 81
Boston Red Sox 173 69
Los Angeles Angels 154 89
Detroit Tigers 132 88
Texas Rangers 121 93
Miami Marlins 118 69
San Francisco Giants 118 94
St. Louis Cardinals 110 88
Milwaukee Brewers 98 83
Chicago White Sox 97 85
Los Angeles Dodgers 95 86
Minnesota Twins 94 66
New York Mets 93 74
Chicago Cubs 88 61
Atlanta Braves 83 94
Cincinnati Reds 82 97
Seattle Mariners 82 75
Baltimore Orioles 81 93
Washington Nationals 81 98
Cleveland Indians 78 68
Colorado Rockies 78 64
Toronto Blue Jays 75 73
Arizona Diamondbacks 74 81
Tampa Bay Rays 64 90
Pittsburgh Pirates 63 79
Kansas City Royals 61 72
Houston Astros 61 55
Oakland Athletics 55 94
San Diego Padres 55 76
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Baseball Team Salaries Compared to Wins in 2012

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Discussion Question:

The scatterplot shows a correlation between salary and wins. How can one explain the fact that the Washington Nationals won so many games more than the Philadelphia Phillies, even though they spent considerably less?

Answer

The data sets used in these examples were obtained from public domain and third-party sources, and are intended for educational purposes only. All facts and figures may become inaccurate, out-of-date, or subject to revision without notice.

Photo: baseball, © David Lee/Shutterstock.