Thursday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

The 2009 payrolls for Major League Baseball came out yesterday.

There’s little in the way of comparisons that can be made between the baseball numbers and those of the National Football League. One league has a salary cap; the other a luxury tax. One has a minimum payroll level that must be met; the other does not.

But there is one common denominator that stands out when you look at MLB and the NFL side-by-side: it’s darn near impossible for an owner in either sport to buy a championship.

According to the Associated Press analysis of the baseball numbers, the ‘09 team payrolls ranged from a high of $201.4 million for the New York Yankees, to No. 30, the Florida Marlins payroll of $39.8 million. The median payrolls belonged to the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays at approximately $81 million.

In the NFL this year, the salary cap ceiling is $127 million. The floor is $111 million. Teams must spend somewhere between those parameters.

There are different views on the plusses and minuses of these two economic platforms. Generally, the pundits consider the NFL model to be better for the game, since none of the 32 NFL teams can spend that much more under the salary cap than another team. The difference in the NFL this year is $16 million from cap to the minimum. In major league baseball, the difference is $161.6 million between the Yankees and the Marlins.

How then can the 2008 Detroit Lions be explained? In a league where the salary cap is supposed to bring parity, this team went 0-16. That should not happen in pro football. It’s proof positive that the salary cap system can’t correct bad personnel decisions.

Victories in football or baseball still come down to two things: talent and team. No matter which word comes first, they have to be paired together. There are a lot of owners that have spent a lot of money in both sports on talent, while ignoring the element of team.

Whether his name is George Steinbrenner or Daniel Snyder, a championship cannot be bought.

Just check in the NFL over the last few years. Any list of teams that spent the most cash dollars in the salary cap constricted pro football would include Snyder’s Washington Redskins, the Oakland Raiders, the Dallas Cowboys, the Denver Broncos, the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings.

Recent Super Bowl victories among those half-dozen teams? Zero. Last year, when it came to cash money no team in the league spent more than the Raiders with $152.3 million. They were 5-11.

It’s the same in baseball. This year, the five highest payrolls in the major leagues are Steinbrenner’s Yankees, the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers.

The recent World Series victories among that group of five? Only the Red Sox, with titles in 2004 and 2007. The Yankees haven’t won the Series since 2000, even though they annually lead the sport in payroll. Last year, Steinbrenner paid nearly $27 million in a luxury tax because the Yankees payroll was so far over the $155 million threshold. New York was six games out of the wildcard spot, finishing third in the American League East with an 89-73 record.

Last year, the average salary in the NFL reportedly was $1.75 million. According to the AP analysis, the average salary this year in major league baseball will be $3.24 million.

According to figures in USA Today from the ‘08 NFL season, the Chiefs spent the least amount of money in the league at $83 million. The AP analysis of the ‘09 baseball payrolls has the Royals ranked No. 21, with a payroll of $70,908,333. Neither one competed for a championship in 2008 and the 2009 season doesn’t hold much hope for either one.

There are a lot of differences between the sports. What they share is the idea that more than money is needed to win a championship.

ANOTHER NEW QUARTERBACK IN THE AFC WEST

The Oakland Raiders announced the signing of veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia (left) on Tuesday. It wasn’t hard to locate him to sign the paperwork, because he was already in the Raiders facility, working out in the weight room. While the Raiders have not indicated Garcia’s role, they have made it plain that JaMarcus Russell is the starter. Garcia will likely be the No. 2 guy, with Bruce Gradkowski batting No. 3.

“We’re working on just the fundamentals of playing the position, the leadership qualities that you have to have, the work ethic, getting in the weight room,” Garcia said this week. “I think JaMarcus, being able to see how myself and how Bruce work as far as what we do in the classroom, what we do in the weight room and what we do on the field, it’s something positive for him to see. I don’t think he’s had those types of guys around him to help him push him or help him understand what it takes to be a true professional at this level.

“The guy is tremendously skilled, he’s huge and we just want to get him into a position where he can be better on the field if he is physically better and mentally sharper. I think those are things he’s starting to see right now with me being involved this week and hopefully it’s just something where the relationship continues to build. And we’re going to help him as much as possible by pushing him in a positive way. At the same time I’m going to do everything I can do to make sure that I’m prepared in case I do get that opportunity or in case something were to happen that I take advantage of that opportunity and make the most in trying to help this team win football games.”

Garcia is excited about the opportunity because it allows him to return home to the Bay Area; he grew up in San Jose and began his NFL career with the 49ers, after a stint in the Canadian Football League. He moved on to Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.

“There weren’t a whole lot of opportunities coming my way this off season,” said Garcia. “When the Raiders expressed interest and just the fact that it would keep my family and myself in California, bringing me back to the Bay Area where I grew up … being with the team I grew up watching, really enjoying that part of growing up and seeing the great players that came through Oakland, wanting to be a part of that history and hopefully make a difference in some way.”

SIGNINGS & ROSTER MOVEMENT IN THE NFL

COLTS – re-signed LB Tyjuan Hagler.

REDSKINS – signed LB Robert Thomas (Oakland).

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on April 9, 1955 in Laurel, Mississippi was WR Jerrold McRae. He joined the Chiefs as a fourth-round choice in the 1978 NFL Draft out of Tennessee State. McRae played in four games for the Chiefs during the 1978 season. He did not catch a pass. He played five games with the Eagles in the ‘79 season, catching one pass for minus-2 yards.