We all know that in Major League Baseball money talks and it talks pretty darn loud.

If you don't believe me, look up Albert Pujols' salary and you'll start to understand.

Over the past ten years the teams with the higher salaries have dominated the league, and throughout history the trend has been that the team with the bigger payroll wins the World Series.

Last year, the St. Louis Cardinals had a payroll of just under $100 million. The year before that the San Francisco Giants did too. And for the years before that the Yankees and the Red Sox had payrolls upwards of $160 million.

And it makes sense really, the bigger the payroll, the better the players, and therefore the better the team.

So if that's the case, who are the contenders and the pretenders for the league and World Series in 2012?

Note that because teams are still in contract and payment negotiations with players, the order of the list is subject to change slightly, but looking just at the payroll for all 30 Major League Baseball teams, here's where they stand in likelihood of winning the World Series this year.

 

1.  New York Yankees

Current payroll for 2012 — $207,525,000 

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2.  Philadelphia Phillies

Current payroll for 2012 — $166,438,058

 

3.  Boston Red Sox

Current payroll for 2012 — $151,650,119

 

4.  Los Angeles Angels

Current payroll for 2012 — $145,820,000

 

5.  Detroit Tigers

Current payroll for 2012 — $127,575,000

 

6.  San Francisco Giants

136236419_crop_340x234 Nick Laham/Getty Images

Current payroll for 2012 — $126,708,333

 

7.  St. Louis Cardinals

Current payroll for 2012 — $106,612,500

 

8.  Texas Rangers

Current payroll for 2012 — $92,625,000

 

9.  Minnesota Twins

Current payroll for 2012 — $91,900,000

 

10.  Chicago White Sox

Current payroll for 2012 — $91,250,000

 

131198756_crop_340x234 Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

11.  Los Angeles Dodgers

Current payroll for 2012 — $90,425,333

 

12.  Chicago Cubs

Current payroll for 2012 — $89,972,500

 

13.  New York Mets

Current payroll for 2012 — $87,487,500

 

14.  Miami Marlins

Current payroll for 2012 — $84,485,000

 

15.  Atlanta Braves

Current payroll for 2012 — $83,710,667

127442291_crop_340x234 Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

 

16.  Milwaukee Brewers

Current payroll for 2012 — $83,470,833

 

17.  Cincinnati Reds

Current payroll for 2012 — $82,289,167

 

18.  Colorado Rockies

Current payroll for 2012 — $74,003,571

 

19.  Toronto Blue Jays

Current payroll for 2012 — $72,675,000

 

20.  Seattle Mariners

127538050_crop_340x234 Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Current payroll for 2012 — $72,563,000

 

21.  Washington Nationals

Current payroll for 2012 — $67,048,929

 

22.  Arizona Diamondbacks

Current payroll for 2012 — $61,276,333

 

23.  Tampa Bay Rays

Current payroll for 2012 — $55,516,000

 

24.  Baltimore Orioles

Current payroll for 2012 — $52,705,333

 

25.  Cleveland Indians

Current payroll for 2012 — $51,810,000

 

26.  Houston Astros

Current payroll for 2012 — $51,700,000

 

27.  Kansas City Royals

Current payroll for 2012 — $49,332,500

 

28.  San Diego Padres

Current payroll for 2012 — $46,932,500

 

29.  Oakland Athletics

Current payroll for 2012 — $38,765,500

 

30.  Pittsburgh Pirates

Current payroll for 2012 — $34,837,000

 

 

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