A look back at all of the early season baseball predictions and there are no national analysts that would have predicted and October that would see the Angels, Dodgers, Nationals and Tigers all get bounced from the postseason and set up for what should be a very entertaining push for the World Series. The American League will feature two organizations that have not witnessed success since the mid eighties with the Royals last winning a world series in 1985 and the Orioles in 1983.
The ALCS begins Friday in Baltimore and will likely feature a pitching matchup of Chris Tillman versus James Shields. While the experts have long clamored that pitching wins in the post season, the timely hitting by both teams was a key factor in their respective sweeps of the Tigers and Angels.
In the National League, we are looking at a similar story line, the Cardinals versus the Giants, teams which have represented the National League in the World Series the past three years. Clayton Kershaw, arguably the best pitcher on the planet was out-dueled on Tuesday and gave up a go ahead home run in the 7th inning, watching his post season era and loss totals continue to trend in the wrong direction.
The Giants will be the only team in the top 10 for payroll remaining in the postseason.
1. LA Dodgers $235,295,219
2. NY Yankees $203,812,506
3. Philadelphia Phillies $180,052,723
4. Boston Red Sox $162,817,411
5. Detroit Tigers $162,228,527
6. LA Angels $155,692,000
7. San Francisco Giants $154,185,878
8. Texas Rangers $136,036,172
9. Washington Nationals $134,704,437
10. Toronto Blue Jays $132,628,700
The Royals featured the 19th highest payroll in 2014 and remained under $100 million at $92,034,345 to start the year. No player ranked in the top 10 for payroll in 2014 managed will be represented in the World Series>
Zack Greinke
$26,000,000
Dodgers
Cliff Lee
$25,000,000
Phillies
Ryan Howard
$25,000,000
Phillies
Prince Fielder
$24,000,000
Rangers
Robinson Cano
$24,000,000
Mariners
Cole Hamels
$23,500,000
Phillies
Mark Teixeira
$23,125,000
Yankees
CC Sabathia
$23,000,000
Yankees
Joe Mauer
$23,000,000
Twins
Albert Pujols
$23,000,000
Angels
