Yesterday I posted on competitive balance in the MLB and showed that competitive balance in the MLB is getting slightly better in the 2015 season. So the next step is to look at payroll and performance in MLB during the 2015 season. I have looked at payroll and performance previously and here is a blog from the end of last season in MLB. As you can see from that blog that the payroll and performance relationship has been declining since the mid-1990's. In fact, just taking a look at last season, there is no statistically significant relationship between team payroll and team regular season performance in MLB for the 2014 season. So, was 2014 a fluke or a trend. Let's find out by looking at the 2015 MLB regular season.
To do so, first i need the two variables: MLB regular season winning percent, which I grabbed from ESPN and MLB team payrolls which I got from USA Today's MLB team payroll page and second, I need to run the payroll and performance statistical analysis. (If you are interested in performing your own payroll and performance analysis, here is a step-by-step guide to analyzing payroll and performance.)
What I find is that team payroll for the 2015 MLB season is statistically insignificant, meaning that MLB team payroll has zero effect on MLB team regular season performance during this last season, just like in the 2014 season.