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Christopher Boan is a writer with BetTexas.com, covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
Does MLB Payroll Ranking Predict World Series Champions?
A year after the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised their way to the club’s second World Series title this decade across Texas sports betting, it’s worth wondering if the MLB is going back to its big spender days, with the most freewheeling teams racing out to championships, while smaller market clubs fall by the wayside.
One would imagine that the more a team invests in its roster, the more they win the World Series. BetTexas.com wanted to dig in to figure out if this is an accurate assumption or correlation.
Using Spotrac data, we compared the ten past World Series champions' payroll rankings - averaging seventh - to this season's rankings to project the likely winner. Since the payrolls increase each year, we focused on the ranking itself, not the total amount.
How Much Do World Series Champs Spend?
Average Payroll | Average Payroll Ranking |
$180,283,071 | 7th |
2025 MLB Payroll Rankings
Rank | Team | Total 2025 Payroll |
1 | New York Mets | $321,700,000 |
2 | Los Angeles Dodgers | $313,351,665 |
3 | Philadelphia Phillies | $279,332,617 |
4 | New York Yankees | $275,626,666 |
5 | Toronto Blue Jays | $239,162,379 |
6 | Texas Rangers | $206,335,000 |
7 | Houston Astros | $203,883,333 |
8 | Atlanta Braves | $199,445,000 |
9 | Boston Red Sox | $198,494,847 |
10 | San Diego Padres | $196,935,452 |
Over the last decade, the team that wound up winning it all in the MLB started the year with the seventh highest payroll on average, which is exactly where Houston falls in 2025, with the Astros entering the season with $203,883,333 in payroll.
Ranking one spot ahead of them is the Rangers, at $206,335,000, as both of the Lone Star State’s MLB franchise look to open up their checkbooks to bring another championship home to the second most populous state in the nation, with the two teams ranking behind the likes of the Mets ($321,700,000), Dodgers ($313,351,665), Phillies ($279,332,617), Yankees ($275,626,666) and Toronto Blue Jays ($239,162,379) when it comes to Opening Day payroll.
For now, the Astros and Rangers will look to put that money to good use, with both teams standing atop the AL West odds board on DraftKings Sportsbook as Spring Training gets underway, with Houston (+125) and Texas (+225) ranking ahead of the Seattle Mariners (+250), Los Angeles Angels and the Sacramento Athletics (+3000 apiece).
USA Today photo by Troy Taormina.
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