Measuring payrolls versus wins

      The smartest team in baseball is the Tampa Bay Rays.  With the second lowest attendance in baseball, they have the lowest payroll, $63.1 million, but managed to make the playoffs as a wild card team with 96 wins. That works out to $657,291 per win -- the best margin in baseball.
      The worst? The Boston Red Sox which had the highest payroll in baseball, $229.1 million, but won only 84 games, averaging an expense of $2.72 million per win, the costliest win-$ ratio in baseball -- and more than four times what the Rays spent per win.
       The Red Sox and the next five costliest win-$ didn't make the playoffs -- no bang for their bucks, as it were. The Cubs spent $2.59 million per win, the Tigers $2.44 million, the Giants $2.27 million, the Angels $2.23 million and the Rockies $2.21 million.
        Meanwhile, of the three next cheapest teams, two made the playoffs: The A's with $958,000 per win (the only team besides the Rays under $1 million) and the Twins at $1.23 million. Only the low-spending Pirates ($1.05 million win-$) didn't get to the post-season out of this group.

    The MLB average was $1.62 million per win.

    The Marlins, for what it's worth, had a payroll of $75.1 million and won 57 games, working out to $1.32 million per win -- twice what the Rays spent.

      There are various ways to play around with this formula. One would be to add post-season victories to the mix. The Rays, for example, had three, which would lower their wins/$ to $637,000.    Or you could count post-season victories as double or triple wins. I decided to stay with just the regular season.
      Note: I use Spotrac for payrolls, because they update throughout the season.
      The full list:
TEAM       PAYROLL      WINS     $PER WIN
Tampa            $63.1               96           657,291
A’s                    92.9                97           957,731
Pirates              72.7                69           1.05 M
Twins             124.7              101           1.23
White Sox       91.4                72           1.27
Indians          121.5                93           1.31
Marlins          75.1               57           1.32
Orioles            73.4               54           1.36
Dbacks           118.4               85           1.39
Braves            137.9               97           1.42
Brewers          128.6               89           1.44
Padres             103.5               70           1.48
Astros             168.3             107           1.57
MLB Ave        137.2               81           1.62
Rangers           128.9               78           1.65
Blue Jays         111.4               67           1.66
Royals             100.8               59           1.71
Reds                128.4               75           1.712
Nats                167.7               93           1.80
Mets                160                  86           1.86
Dodgers          200.6              106          1.89
Cards              173.8                91          1.91
Phillies           157.2                81          1.94
Mariners        143.4                68           2.11
Yanks            218.6              103           2.12
Rockies          156.6               71            2.20
Angels           160.3               72            2.23
Giants             174.6              77            2.27
Tigers             114.6              47             2.44
Cubs               218                 84             2.59
Red Sox          229.1             84              2.73