The second to the last page of the print version of the Wall Street Journal today has an interesting article by Allen St. John showing varying dollars per win of clubs in and out of the playoffs. Unsurprisingly, the Yankees were the least cost efficient franchise by a fair margin, spending $2.19 million dollars per win, while their divisional "rivals" Tampa Bay were the biggest spendthrifts, paying a Scrooging $442,971 for each of their sixty-seven victories (and just look what these cost efficient measures brought to upper-management in Tampa). Although the Rockies aren't mentioned in the article, their cost per win is estimated here to be at $648,209, or about $123,000 per victory short of what the Padres paid out to win the division, while the Dodgers' misery this year cost them $1.23 million per win, which would place them just ahead of the Mets for fourth place (Yanks, BoSox, M's ahead).
The point of the article is that true fiscal and fan happiness is most likely to be found someplace in between:
With the Rockies cutting payroll again this offseason, it's clear that we are heading the wrong direction in this regard. While there are exceptions -the Indians were only two games out of the playoffs and spent only $446,263 per win according to the article, and the Brewers should be competitive in the near term at very low rates per win - the Rockies don't have nearly the caliber of young players that these teams do, and until that happens, or until we stretch out the budget a bit further than we are now, expect us to continue to fall short of our peers.