How many times have the Rays had a better record than the Yankees in the past decade?
It's not all about the payroll any more. It's about who actually wants a good team and is willing to hire the right people.
The small market excuse is just that, an excuse. The value of the franchises has been exploding. Direct revenue isn't a meaningful constraint on payroll.
Small markets notoriously can't afford to keep their talent around. Pros know they have a limited time in the league and want to maximize revenue so they go to whoever offers them the most. The tweet below is relevant to the sentiment:
>Small markets notoriously can't afford to keep their talent around.
I highly doubt this, as a longtime Marlins fan. I strongly suspect that "small market" teams are those owned by people who notoriously don't want to spend more money than they have to.
According to Forbes, the Rays were purchased in 2004 for 200 million and are now worth 1.1B. In 18 years ownership has received a total return of more than 500% on their investment.
Now, for some strange reason, these teams don't want to publish annual audited profit/loss numbers, but the Marlins had those numbers leak for some of the franchise's bleakest years. The leaks showed them making money hand over fist. I suspect the same is true of the Rays during much of the last 18 years. So, you have a profitable business (I speculate) that's also appreciating in value at an incredible rate. Sounds like someone who can afford to pay the people who actually put butts in seats.
It's not all about the payroll any more. It's about who actually wants a good team and is willing to hire the right people.
The small market excuse is just that, an excuse. The value of the franchises has been exploding. Direct revenue isn't a meaningful constraint on payroll.