St. Louis Cardinals had MLB's 12th highest payroll

Cardinals Nation watched St. Louis flame out of the baseball playoffs Oct. 8 as the team was swept in Major League Baseball's wild card round — managing a total of three runs in the only two postseason games the Redbirds played in 2022, despite being in the upper tier of MLB's 30 teams in payroll.

St. Louis ranked 12th in the majors in roster salaries at $140 million, according to www.spotrac.com, whose analysis showed that of the top dozen best-paying franchises, nine made the postseason.

By the numbers — top five paying franchises

• New York Mets ($231 million), Los Angeles Dodgers ($228 million), New York Yankees ($214 million), Philadelphia Phillies ($191 million) and San Diego Padres ($165 million). All five made it to postseason play this year.

By the numbers — bottom five paying franchises

• Oakland Athletics ($15 million), Baltimore Orioles ($22 million), Cleveland Guardians ($56 million), Pittsburgh Pirates ($30 million) and Miami Marlins ($49 million). Of these, only the Guardians advanced to the postseason tournament.

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