Guardians' ALCS elimination at Yankees hands ensure another big-spending World Series winner

On Saturday night, the Cleveland Guardians lost Game 5 of the ALCS and were officially eliminated from World Series contention. As such, the victorious New York Yankees must now wait to see their opponents from the National League.

On Sunday, the Dodgers and Mets will play Game 6 of the NLCS. Ranking fifth and first in total payroll respectively, it is now guaranteed that two of MLB's five top-spending teams will, once again, feature in the World Series.

"MLB League Championship Series Payrolls: 1. Mets - $350.3 million 2. Dodgers - $339.8 million 3. Yankees - $314.7 million 4. Guardians - $140.3 million. #Guardians" - Hayden Grove

With the elimination of Cleveland from contention, the 2003 Miami Marlins remain the only team in the past 32 seasons to have won the Fall Classic with a bottom-half payroll. The Guardians, who rank 23rd out of 30 clubs when it comes to payroll, came within six wins of breaking the spell.

Instead, fans will get to see some of the richest teams, not just in baseball, but in sports history. However, somewhat ironically, it is the New York Mets, whose $317 million payroll ranks first in MLB, who are most likely to meet elimination next.

"A Yankees-Dodgers or even Yankees-Mets World Series is really gonna make me question whether the emotional investment in a 162-game baseball season is worth it if you aren’t a fan of top-5 payroll team." - Zac Bellman

If the New York Yankees and LA Dodgers meet in the World Series, we could see some of the highest-earning athletes in world history face off. Although he will be deferring the majority of it, Shohei Ohtani's 10-year, $700 million deal is an MLB record, while the $360 million that the Yankees are paying to Judge makes him the highest-paid non-pitching player in league history.

Deep-pocketed World Series reinforces high-spending orthodoxy

Although MLB has witnessed some surging underdogs, the vast majority of modern World Series winners have been rich clubs. As writer Kyle Glaser wrote for Baseball America last year:

"Spending money is not a guarantee a team will win a World Series, of course. At the same time, for the last 30 years, teams have almost always had to cross a certain payroll threshold to be actual World Series contenders."

Certainly, a phenomenon that exists in baseball, at least the star-studded rosters in use will guarantee an exciting Fall Classic in 2024.