Pay As a Percentage of Team Value

While digging through my closet, I found an interesting article written by Peter J. Schwartz in a 2008 issue of Sports Money.

In the article, Schwartz looks at historical player salaries in comparison to the overall value of the team. Here were some of the players listed:

1930: Babe Ruth’s salary — $80,000
Yankees Team Value: $2.5 million
Ruth made 3.2% of the team’s total value.

1949: Joe DiMaggio’s salary — $100,000
Yankees Team Value: $5 million
DiMaggio made 2.0% of the team’s total value.

1980: Nolan Ryan’s salary — $1.125 million
Astros Team Value: $13 million
Ryan made 8.7% of the team’s total value.

1991: Roger Clemens’ salary — $5.38 million
Red Sox Team Value: $136 million
Clemens made 4.0% of the team’s total value.

1997: Albert Belle’s salary — $11 million
White Sox Team Value: $149 million
Belle made 7.4% of the team’s total value.

1999: Kevin Brown’s salary — $15 million
Dodgers Team Value: $270 million
Brown made 5.6% of the team’s total value.

2001: Alex Rodriguez’s salary — $25.2 million
Rangers Team Value: $342 million
Rodriguez made 7.4% of the team’s total value.

2008: Alex Rodriguez’s salary — $30.5 million
Yankees Team Value: $1.3 billion
Rodriguez made 2.3% of the team’s total value.

Check out nyyankeesrumors.com and bronxinsider.vox.com for more commentary.