MLB PAYROLL CHANGE - 1992 TO 2011

Consider this a fulfillment of a request from Dave Naylor and Bruce Arthur...

Earlier tonight, Dave tweeted: "Would love to see MLB payrolls 1992 and 2012 for the other 29 teams."

This is what I am here for (with big thanks to baseball-reference.com):

(but since 2012 payrolls aren't finalized, I'll be going with 2011 numbers)

INCREASE IN PAYROLL
FROM 1992-2011

1. NYY $165 M
2. PHI $148 M
3. BOS $118 M
4. LAA $104 M
5. CHW $98 M
6. CHC $95 M
7. SFG $85 M
8. MIN $85 M
9. DET $78 M
10. STL $78 M
11. NYM $74 M
12. SEA $63 M
13. TEX $62 M
14. BAL $61 M
15. LAD $59 M
16. HOU $55 M
17. MIL $54 M
18. ATL $52 M
19. WAS/MTL $44 M
20. CIN $40 M
21. CLE $39 M
22. OAK $26 M
23. SDP $19 M
24. PIT $11 M
25. TOR $6 M
26. KC $2 M

TOR: $56 M IN 1992, $62 M IN 2011 (AFTER EXCHANGE RATE)

So, in other words, only the Royals have had a smaller payroll increase between 1992 & 2011. This isn't the perfect measure --- for example, it doesn't take into account what teams spent in the years between 1992 and 2011 --- but the point still holds: This is one of the many reasons why Jays fans are frustrated. Here's something that'll make you even more frustrated:

The average inflation rate from 1992-2011 was 2.5%... if the Jays simply kept up with inflation, their payroll would be somewhere close to $90 m.

That is all.