How much do you need to win a World Series?

Did you ever wonder how much money it costs to win a World Series on average? We know that Bruce Sherman has to spend money to fix the issues that the Miami Marlins have. We also know that this rebuild is dangerously close to being a failure. Payroll isn’t everything and good scouting, drafting and player management are keys to winning. The Tampa Bay Rays proved that for us already. However, spending money doesn’t hurt and the combination of both is how you win, or you end up like the Los Angeles Angels on one extreme end of the spectrum, and the Oakland Athletics on the other.

How much money does an average World Series winning team spend, and what can Bruce Sherman learn from that?

Let’s go back to 2007 and see how much World Series winning teams have spent on payroll (keeping in mind inflation). The 2007 Boston Red Sox spent $143 million. The 2008 Philadelphia Phillies spent $97 million on their team. The 2009 New York Yankees spent $201 million. The 2010 San Francisco Giants spent $99 million on their championship team. Keep in mind that I’m rounding up the numbers by the way.

The 2011 St. Louis Cardinals spent $105 million on their championship team. The 2012 San Francisco Giants spent $118 million. The 2013 Boston Red Sox spent $155 million on their championship team. The 2014 San Francisco Giants spent $154 million ironically on their title winning team. The 2015 Kansas City Royals spent $127 million on their World Series winning team. The 2016 Chicago Cubs spent $147 million. The 2017 Houston Astros spent $124 million on their “win” cheaters *cough*.

The 2018 Boston Red Sox spent $237 million! The 2019 Washington Nationals spent $197 million on their World Series winning team. The 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers spent $107 million, but everything was prorated due to COVID-19 so I’m excluding that. The 2021 Atlanta Braves spent $175 million on their championship.

So what’s the average payroll of a World Series winning team since 2007? Are you ready Bruce Sherman? $148.5 million or $149 million if you want to round it up. That’s the number that Bruce Sherman should be willing to pay to get the Miami Marlins to win the World Series. It’s not even close to the luxury tax barrier so there’s no excuse not to reach this threshold.