What would the payroll have been for classic teams, if they made modern day money?

I've been thinking that this would be a lot of fun, but have not had a chance to actually work on any team. It's been an idea I've been thinking about for a couple of weeks, so I figured I'd throw the idea out there and see if anyone else finds it interesting and may want to work on it.

We know that there have been some unbelievable teams over the history of baseball. The classic Yankees teams, the Big Red Machine, etc. etc. I've been thinking about what the payroll would be if those teams were around today, signing players the way they would sign today.

I think it would be fun to take some of the old rosters and consider what the player's salaries would be given the current economic landscape, the rules as far as free agency etc. Like guys like Matt Harvey now, there would be some players whose contracts are far less than "market value" due to the way salaries work in MLB. Others may have signed an early contract (Like Trout) while other more aging stars might have benefited from the long term free agency contact ala Miguel Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols.

I hope to give it a shot for a couple of teams, but would definitely welcome others taking a shot at it for a favorite historical team of theirs.

That sounds interesting. How would you go about figuring how much they would make? Would you take their stats and compare them to current players' stats to determine an approximate salary?

KLARNOLD said:

That sounds interesting. How would you go about figuring how much they would make? Would you take their stats and compare them to current players' stats to determine an approximate salary?

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Yah I was thinking comparing stats and where are at in their career (relative to free agency etc.)

What If Sports has a database of manufactured salaries for players in their game. (Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson have some huge salaries.)

I'm sure a number cruncher could take actual salaries and extrapolate them for actual salaries.

I haven't checked yet , but if there is a list of what they made (ranked 1-how many players there were in the league) , say Joe Morgan ranked #20 in the league , then put him at the rate of the #20 player today..??

Ryan

RStadlerASU22 said:

I haven't checked yet , but if there is a list of what they made (ranked 1-how many players there were in the league) , say Joe Morgan ranked #20 in the league , then put him at the rate of the #20 player today..??

Ryan

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It could be done in a few different ways but I think a more holistic approach, trying to determine when he would have signed a contract and the "going rate" would provide interesting insights. I hope to try with a team like the 27 Yankees one of these days when I have time.

I'm willing to bet, if money was no object, black players would have made it into the league much sooner. This exercise would be moot without considering the ***** League players playing at the same time.

And I don't know if baseball was what it is in Latin America back in the days before Clemente.

hive17 said:

I'm willing to bet, if money was no object, black players would have made it into the league much sooner. This exercise would be moot without considering the ***** League players playing at the same time.

And I don't know if baseball was what it is in Latin America back in the days before Clemente.

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A strong case could be made for four (4) of the all-time greatest players by position were from the ***** Leagues.

Satchel Paige
Josh Gibson
"Pop" Lloyd
Oscar Charleston

hive17 said:

I'm willing to bet, if money was no object, black players would have made it into the league much sooner. This exercise would be moot without considering the ***** League players playing at the same time.

And I don't know if baseball was what it is in Latin America back in the days before Clemente.

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Not sure why it would be anything but a fun exercise whether it is done for teams with only white players, teams with only black players, post-integration teams, or even fantasy baseball teams...

This is taking some time, so I'll revisit this with more of the team a little later. Here's the starters minus the pitches. My total is $77.775 million in salaries for these 8, with Ruth taking more than half of it, Gehrig being the best deal, and Meusel the only really bad contract...

Taking a look at the 27 Yankees:

C - Pat Collins - Collins had played 6 years with the Browns before coming to the Yanks in 1926. In 1926 I assume he would has signed a one year deal for the league minimum, but that year he had what may have been his best year. I'd say the Yanks resign him for 2 years, $5 million or $2.5 million for the 1927 season.

1B - Lou Gehrig was a rookie in 1925, and followed that up with a really solid season in 1926. It is possible the Yankees would have tried to lock him up with a long term contract, but I think more likely he would have qualified as a Super 2 player and gotten a deal through arbitration. Ryan Howard got $10 million his third season after winning the MVP and hitting 58 homers the year before. I think Gehrig would get in the $8 million range. Not a bad price for the MVP that season.

2B - Tony Lazzeri - Lazzeri was a rookie in 1926 and finished in the top 10 in the MVP race. As a second year player, he could be making $750,000.

SS - Mark Koenig - Another second year player and not as good as Lazzeri. Probably making around league minimum or so $525,000.

3B - Joe Dugan - Came to the Yanks back in 1922 and was a top defensive third baseman, but never much of a hitter. A vet who might have been making $4 million a season in a multi-year deal.

OF - Bob Meusel - A rookie in 1920, Meusel had likely his best season in 1926 at age 28 when he hit 33 home runs. (He only had one other season where he hit more than 20, back in 1921 when he hit 24.) Along with the steroid rumors, Meusel would have been a free agent after the 26 season, and like would have inked a pretty serious deal. I'm think 5 years at $90 million, or $18 million a season; a deal that comes back to bite the team in the long run.

OF - Babe Ruth - Easily the best player on the planet for years already, it seems likely that Yanks would have locked up Ruth to a long term deal when they traded for him back following the 1919 season. With a somewhat limited track record as a hitter at that point, I imagine that they may have signed him for 6 years, a contract which would have made him a free agent before the 1927 season. After missing time in 1925, Ruth was back to himself in 1926. Still just in his early 30's and in his prime, with the cache of being the biggest name in all of sports, the Yankees lock him up for 7 years at $40 million a season. It's a number that some think is insane, but Ruth continues to perform at an extremely high level for the full length of the contract, leading some to consider it to be one of the best deals ever signed...

OF - Earle Combs - Combs followed up a tremendous rookie season in 1925 with a sophomore slump in 1926. Still I assume he would have been a Super 2 player and eligible for arbitration. I'd say he gets $4 million for the season.

Keep it up! This kind of fantasy/historic baseball talk makes my day.

Sig40cal said:

Keep it up! This kind of fantasy/historic baseball talk makes my day.

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Thanks! Glad someone found it interesting. It took quite a bit more time than I expected it would (and I'm not 100% sure that I got the arbitration rules figured out) but I hope to be able to finish off the rest of the team soon. I love imagining what sports radio would have been like if the Yanks signed both Ruth and Meusel before the 1927 season (in reality with the Ruth signing they might have let Meusel leave, but of course it would be a bit much to kick some players off the team lol.