Cleveland Guardians Proving That Money Isn’t Everything In 2024

Despite not having the highest payroll, the Cleveland Guardians are the best team in the American Leauge.

Jun 24, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor (23) celebrates with pitcher Scott Barlow (58) after the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

All season long, the Cleveland Guardians have looked the part of a potential World Series contender. They are now 51-26 and are currently in the middle of a seven-game winning streak.

While the way they have played has been impressive, it's even more impressive that they are doing it without spending big money.

In recent history, baseball has become a sport that many believe success is bought in. Look at the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Both teams have been known to spend as much as possible trying to add as much talent as they can.

Even though it helps to have elite talent, it doesn't necessarily equal being the best team in the league.

Currently, the Guardians are the No. 1 team in baseball from a record perspective. They're ahead of the Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. That doesn't mean they're "better" than those teams, but they're right on par with them.

Hayden Grove, a sportswriter for Cleveland.com, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share an interesting fact about the season.

He noted that Cleveland is currently better than both the Yankees and Phillies so far this year, even though they rank No. 26 in payroll rankings. Philadelphia comes in at No. 4 and New York comes in at No. 2.

MLB standings as of June 25:

1. Cleveland Guardians 51-26 (.662)
2. Philadelphia Phillies 52-27 (.658)
3. New York Yankees 52-29 (.642)

Payroll rankings:

Guardians: $100M (26th)
Phillies: $245M (4th)
Yankees: $307M (2nd)#Guardians pic.twitter.com/1wQABniaI2

— Hayden Grove (@H_Grove) June 26, 2024

That post perfectly shows that money isn't everything in baseball. The Guardians are proving that fact with the way they are playing.

Will it pay off in the end? No one knows. But, Cleveland has built the right way and are not needing to send money out in bunches to find success.

It will be interesting to see how the next couple of months shake out, especially with the MLB trade deadline next month. The Guardians look the part of a serious contender and hopefully they can continue playing like it.

Small money teams usually don't receive a lot of hype, but Cleveland is showing that flashy moves and contracts are not necessarily the measure of success in Major League Baseball.