Baseball Tri-Weekly: The Cash Advantage

Shaddupu star Bryce Harper sports a team shirt supplied by a team sponsor during warmups against Rakeville this week. Weymouth dominates the East in team spending once again.

The Cash Advantage

By Aviator McShadeless

Many fans of the EHCC look at winning championships as the culmination of a fantastic single season. For the most successful franchise in EHCC history, winning a title is just the first step in a long tail plan to dominate the most prestigious league in all of baseball.

Baseball Tri-Weekly analysts look a look at the EHCC eastern division, when Weymouth is considered the heavy favorite, and disected team payrolls at the beginning on Week 4 by comparing preseason auction values to current rosters. These salaries are a good indication of how teams have allocated their resources, and where their strengths lie before the rubber hits the road. What we found was that Shaddupu have a significant presumed advantage on both sides of the ball.

Weymouth tops the Eastern Division in terms of payroll spend at $363 (according to CBS), with the next closest team nearly $100 behind the five time champion. The four other contending teams in the East are fairly close in spend, with San Juan ($269) the highest and Las Vegas ($239), Bridgewater ($247) and Rakeville ($245) all within a few dollars. Contracts on Weymouth's offense alone total $231, showing the significant advantage Shaddupu have over their competition.

How can Weymouth afford all of this spending? A long track record of success has kept Brotherhood Park packed season after season and superb minor league drafting has allowed the team to trade rising stars for the right pieces. That consistency has made advertisers very happy. Barring a Rio-like bout of injuries, they should cruise to a playoff berth and likely bye.

Below Shaddupu is an interesting battle. The rebuilding efforts of Rakeville and Bridgewater are finally paying dividends if spending is an indication of performance. The Rockets haven't been in the playoffs since 2014, and the Weasels 2011, but both look poised to contend. Rakeville has invested in their offense, devoting $175 (2nd in the East) while Bridgewater has a more balanced attacked, ranking third in spend on both sides of the ball.

Las Vegas and San Juan, while balanced, have strong cultural and monetary investments in their pitching. The Doggs unique strategy has them taking the moneyball approach, loading up on low-cost, high impact players while the Guerites have taken the more traditional approach, signing long-term deals to a handful of top aces and closers, and as of week 4 they sit on top of the EHCC.

And last, but not least, San Fernando Valley. This year the Jets topped the Ben Franklin line with a $101 payroll, a quarter of that going to Severino. For the third straight season, the Southern California farm team can't seem to get the traction or fan interest needed to succeed. Attendance numbers have been so poor that hot dog vendors have begun selling their product in downtown Burbank in an effort to break even.