Money doesn’t buy championships, but it certainly helps.
Eight of the past 12 World Series winners have had a payroll in the top 10 in Major League Baseball in the season in which they won. The exceptions: the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals, the 2015 Kansas City Royals, the since-tainted 2017 Houston Astros and the 2021 Atlanta Braves. Of the winners, the Royals are the only one considered to be a small-market club.