The two teams with the best records in baseball, the Rays (64-43) and the Pirates (64-42), also have two of the 11 smallest payrolls.
The Pirates opening day payroll of $79.6 million ranked 20th in
Those three teams also have five of the best cost-per-win ratios* in MLB, trailing only the Astros and the Marlins, the two teams with the smallest payrolls, at $22.1 million and $36.3 million respectively. At the other end, the Yankees have paid nearly $3 million per win.
Here is a look at the cost-per-win for every team. If the season ended today, the teams in red would make the playoffs...
Data via USAToday.com
Payrolls are prorated depending on number of games played by each team