MLB 2012: If Money Talks, Who's Going to Win the World Series?

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 

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

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

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

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

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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