Is the MLB a Level Playing Field?

There was an interesting article in the newspaper today about the respective salaries of all the MLB clubs. A record 14 MLB players will earn at least $20 million this season, more than double from two years ago.  Baseballs average annual salary is $3.45 million.   With no salary cap it will be interesting to me to find out at the end of the season how closely the final standings of the team reflect the amount that the club has spent on players’ salaries.  Here are the lists, by division:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East                                        Total Payroll                      Average Salary

New York Yankees          $197,962,289                      $6,186,322

Boston                                  $173,186,617                      $5,093,724

Baltimore                            $81,429,999                        $2,807,997

Toronto                                $75,489,200                        $2,696,043

Tampa Bay                          $64,173,500                        $2,291,911

Central

Detroit                                 $132,300,000                      $4,562,069

Chicago WS                        $96,919,500                        $3,876,780

Minnesota                          $94,085,000                        $3,484,630

Cleveland                           $78,430,300                        $2,704,493

Kansas                                  $60,916,225                        $2,030,541

West

LA Angels                            $154,485,166                      $5,327,075

Texas                                    $120,510,974                      $4,635,037

Seattle                                 $81,978,100                        $2,927,789

Oakland                               $55,244,700                        $1,973,025

NATIONAL LEAGUE

East

Philadelphia                      $174,538,938                      $5,817,965

Miami                                   $118,078,000                      $4,373,259

New York Mets                 $93,353,983                        $3,457,555

Atlanta                                 $83,309,942                        $2,776,998

Washington                       $81,336,143                        $2,623,143

Central

St. Louis                               $110,300,862                      $3,393,317

Milwaukee                         $97,653,944                        $3,755,921

Chicago Cubs                     $88,197,033                        $3,392,194

Cincinnati                           $82,203,616                        $2,935,843

Pittsburgh                           $93,431,999                        $2,187,310

Houston                               $60,651,000                        $2,232,731

West

San Francisco                     $117,539,938                      $3,920,689

LA Dodgers                         $95,143,575                        $3,171,453

Colorado                             $78,069,571                        $2,692,054

Arizona                                                $74,284,833                        $2,653,030

San Diego                            $55,244,700                        $1,973,025

Source: USA Today. Based on documents obtained from the MLB Players Association and club officials are filed with MLB’s central office.

Surely this does not represent a level playing field.  Major League Baseball is one of the very few sporting competitions world wide that does not have a salary cap.  Instead it has a luxury tax.  This tax is paid if a clubs payroll exceeds a certain figure (determined annually).  In 2011 that figure was $178 million.  The club is taxed on the amount of money they are over the figure and the money goes to the league and is put into the industry growth fund.

To date only the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers and Los Angeles Angels have been forced to pay the luxury tax.  The tax was introduced as a means of making the competition more even.  It does not take a rocket scientist to work out that the teams with the biggest pay rolls like the Red Sox and the Yankees have been seriously overrepresented in post season appearances as opposed to clubs such as Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh with meagre pay rolls in comparison, who have between them only made four appearances in the post season in the last decade