. If the economics of baseball were out of control in 1994, then today they are really a run away train. Back in 1994 the top payrolls were about $30 million. The Atlanta Braves paid the nucleus of their great pitching staff, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz, a total of $11 million, and the owners were bemoaning the six-year, $43 million contract the San Francisco Giants signed with Barry Bonds that made him the highest-paid player in the game. That seems small in comparison to many of the deals that have been signed since the end of the strike, under the new collective bargaining agreement. In 1998 there was little uproar when The New York Mets signed Mike Piazza to a seven-year, $91 million contract, and that same year the Yankees gave Bernie Williams $87.5 million for seven years and the Anaheim Angels signed Mo Vaughn for seven years and $80 million. Then in 1999, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed pitcher Kevin Brown to a seven-year $115 million contract that sent alarms throughout the baseball world. The very next year the Dodgers signed outfielder Shawn Green to an $84 million dollar contract. That means the Dodgers will pay two players an average of $29 million a year for the next six years. That is more the 1999 payrolls of seven teams. Today Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz combine to account for over $40 million in salary per year, which was more than the entire payroll of eleven teams in 1999. In 2000 the highest payroll is well over $100 million, and several others are approaching the $100 million dollar level, and they are getting bigger every year.2000 Major League Baseball Team PayrollsTeamTotal Payroll1. New York Yankees$113,365,8772. Atlanta Braves$95,010,7343. Los Angeles Dodgers$94,224,5804. Boston Red Sox$93,866,3225. New York Mets$89,745,2756. Arizona Diamondbacks$80,756,967. Cleveland Indians$78,717,9798. St. Louis Cardinals$72,376,1779. Seattle Mariners$62,552,80210. Texas Rangers$61,359,49211. Detroit Tigers $60...
