Roster construction of Phillies, Rangers a vote in favour of buying wins

We've seen examples time and time again in baseball where pouring a bunch of money into a roster has led to disappointment.

This season alone offers some prime examples. The New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres possessed the three highest payrolls in the majors in 2023 and, even so, that didn't translate into anything close to a playoff berth for those clubs.

The Yankees ($273 million, per FanGraphs) and Padres ($255M) finished with 82-80 records, while the Mets, who outspent everyone by a wide margin at $346M, stumbled to a dismal 75-87 mark.

However, as bad as those teams were, it shouldn't necessarily cement the belief that money can't buy a championship. The Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers, who each held 2-0 leads in their respective championship series entering Wednesday, are clubs that doled out serious cash into the construction of their rosters and are reaping the benefits in major ways.

Those clubs certainly offer a vote of confidence toward buying wins. 

The Phillies, probably the most well-rounded team left in the MLB post-season, ranked fourth in baseball with a $246-million payroll and near the bottom of the league in homegrown players with seven, per FanGraphs' RosterResource.

The Phils’ roster features nine free-agent signings, nine players acquired via trade and one waiver acquisition.

Among the free agents to join the club are some big names inked to big dollars — Bryce Harper and Trea Turner are $300-million players while Zack Wheeler, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos each signed contracts for over $100 million. Additionally, Kyle Schwarber inked a four-year, $79-million deal.

That's massive amount of payroll tied up in six players, but each has been an impact contributor during the club's current playoff run. Harper, Castellanos, Schwarber, Turner and Realmuto have combined for 17 of the Phillies’ 19 home runs during the playoffs, while Wheeler has recorded wins in two of his three starts, logging a 2.37 ERA across 19 innings.

Meanwhile, over in the American League, much of the same can be said about the Rangers, who ranked eighth in MLB payroll at $214 million. For context, that's the same number as the Blue Jays this season.

The Texas method to roster construction has been even more pronounced than that of the Phillies. Only two teams (Tampa Bay and Washington) feature fewer homegrown players than the Rangers' five. The roster boasts nine free-agent signings along with 12 players acquired via trade.

The Rangers signalled their turnaround ahead of the 2022 season when they inked Corey Seager (10-year, $325 million) and Marcus Semien (seven-year, $175 million) to massive deals. Jacob deGrom was later signed for $185 million, Nathan Eovaldi inked a two-year, $34-million deal and general manager Chris Young traded for Max Scherzer, who's owed $43 million in each of the next two seasons.

Those players are the team's highest earners and while deGrom has been sidelined since April, Seager, Semien and Eovaldi have been at the centre of the club's undefeated run so far in the post-season. Seager, specifically, has been a standout, producing a 1.240 OPS over the Rangers’ seven playoff games, while Eovaldi has arguably been the team’s MVP, recording three key wins and establishing himself as a pillar in the Texas rotation.

Scherzer will get his chance to forge his own imprint when he returns from injury to start Game 3 of the ALCS against the Astros on Wednesday (Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT).

In the case of both the Phillies and Rangers, you can call it luck that the highest-paid players are all producing what the respective front offices envisioned upon their signings. Or, perhaps more fittingly, you can identify the individual acquisitions as shrewd decision-making by the two organizations.

Whatever you land on there, the fact remains that the Phillies and Rangers' recipe for roster construction has worked extremely well.