2008 MLB Payrolls by position

You know, it's hard starting a blog. You try to find a voice, try to find a middle ground. I don't know enough math to be a stathead (though I am interested in it), and I don't know enough people inside the organization to be a breaking news site. So I work with what I can. I'm a guy who is moderately entertaining, and already with another full-time job, but I still want to bring some fresh commentary to the Astros - a team mostly overlooked...in the NL Central. We do what we can.

But today we are going to look at how the Astros have divvied up their payroll among the positions: Pitchers, Catchers, Infielders, Outfielders - and how it compares to the other 30 Major League teams.

Now before we start, a note. These are the 2008 payrolls at the end of the 2008 season. So Manny's salary belongs to the Dodgers. Jason Bay's belongs to the Red Sox. CC Sabathia's belongs to the Brewers. All salary information comes from ESPN's team roster page. September Call-ups are not included.

Okay.

Pitching Staff:
Astros: $33,557,000
MLB Rank: 16th
NL Rank: 8th
MLB Average: $36,098,400

Catchers:
Astros: $2,795,000
MLB Rank: 18th
NL Rank: 7th
MLB Average: $5,451,460

Infielders:
Astros: $43,661,400
MLB Rank: 2nd
NL Rank: 1st
MLB Average: $23,412,668

Outfielders:
Astros: $14,292,000
MLB Rank: 16th
NL Rank: 8th
MLB Average: $19,458,090

So some notes - first, note how cheap our outfield is. Bourn and Pence are CHEAP, like the budgie. Second, the Astros have a stinking expensive infield - only the Yankees paid more for their infield.

Now no payroll is created equal. Since the Rays and the Yankees exist in the same division, we can break this down further by percentage of payroll distribution. 25 out of the 30 teams spent more on pitching than any other part of their team. The five who didn't? The Yankees, Pirates, Nationals, A's and Astros. And you see how well that worked out for them.

Of the eight 2008 playoff teams, all of them spent more than 34% of their payroll on their pitching staff. Five of them (Cubs, Angels, Brewers, Phillies and Rays) spent more than 40% of their payroll on pitching, and a sixth - the Dodgers - spent 39.7% of their payroll on pitching. And the Phillies spent 46.1% and the Rays 44.4% of their payroll on pitching.

More later...