MLB: According to Forbes, New York Yankees are the most valuable team

We are a few weeks into the 2017 Major League Baseball season. Forbes magazine has come out with their list of the valuable MLB teams and the one who topped the list does not come as a surprise. For the 20^th straight year, they have valued the New York Yankees as the most valuable team. They are worth $3.7 billion, which is roughly 9% higher than they were in 2016.

[Jon]

The remainder of the most valuable teams in Major League Baseball include the Los Angeles Dodgers ($2.75 billion), Boston Red Sox ($2.70 billion), Chicago Cubs ($2.65 billion), San Francisco Giants ($2.65 billion), and it happens to be rounded out by the New York Mets coming in at exactly $2 billion.

These teams being at the top of the list does not come as a surprise to me. Over the last few seasons, these teams have all performed better. Due to these teams playing better, it has led more interest on them and that has had a positive impact. Also, these teams have become mainstays in the playoff picture, which has contributed big time to them being worth as much as they have.

However, while there are teams that have been flourishing in success, there are teams that are on the bottom of the list and these can not be a surprise to any baseball fan. I feel that it is safe to say that the Indians coming in at $920 million is the only team that fits both being not a surprise and a surprise.

It is not a surprise because they haven’t gone out and spent a lot of money to bring in players. I guess the only way that the Indians being this low surprises me is that they did have a good 2016 season. They are followed by the Cincinnati Reds ($915 million), Oakland A’s ($880 million) and the Tampa Bay Rays round out the list at $825 million.

It is also worth noting that Major League Baseball’s average team value rose roughly 19% to $1.54 billion. Forbes has indicated that this surge is due to new local TV deals and a surge in profitability. Personally, I feel another contributor to this is where the team happens to be located. We can look at a team like the Tampa Bay Rays. They came in at $825 million but they area of Tampa Bay is one of the more major cities in Florida.