Sometimes it's not about having more, but about doing more with less.
When the MLB playoffs commence in a few days, the two largest-revenue teams in baseball -- the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers -- will enter the fray as popular picks to meet in the World Series. The New York Mets, Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros and Dodgers own baseball's five biggest payrolls, based on data from Spotrac. If the Mets nail down one of the National League's remaining wild-card slots, all five will move on to October.
Money in, money out. It's a time-honored formula for winning in baseball. Still, this year's postseason bracket will also feature a number of teams on lower revenue and payroll tiers. According to revenue figures included in Forbes' annual valuations of MLB clubs, it's likely that half of the playoff bracket will comprise teams ranking 18th or lower.
Two of those teams aren't really surprise entrants. The Baltimore Orioles (No. 18 in revenue) won more than 100 games last season and the Arizona Diamondbacks (No. 22) won last season's NL pennant. The other four -- the Kansas City Royals (No. 26), Detroit Tigers (No. 25), Cleveland Guardians (No. 20) and Milwaukee Brewers (No. 19) -- are very much surprises.
Each has upended expectations this season, without the considerable economic might of baseball's biggest earners. Let's dig into that quartet to see what secrets, if any, they might reveal.