Dodgers Lead In Payroll, But The Jays Are Favored To Win It All

With last week's signings of Zack Greinke and South Korean southpaw Ryu Hyun-jin, the Los Angeles Dodgers (per baseball-reference.com) boosted their team payroll to an estimated $214 million, topping the longtime leader, the New York Yankees, who dropped to $200 million. Come opening day, LA's payroll may rise to a whopping $225 million.

Below is a list of the teams that make up the top 10 in overall payroll.  

Philadelphia ($150 million), Angels ($146 million) and Detroit ($141 million) round out the top five.  

The second five include San Francisco ($132 million), White Sox ($116 million), Toronto ($113 million), Cardinals ($108 million) and Texas ($104 million).

The lowest 2013 payroll belongs to Houston ($25 million).             

But does any of this imply that the Dodgers will win the World Series in 2013?  Here are the salary numbers for recent baseball champions.

In 2009, the Yankees won the World Series with the highest payroll ($201 million), while in 2010, the Giants were 10th in payroll ($98 million).  

In 2011, St. Louis was 11th($105 million) and last season, San Francisco scored 8th ($118 million).

At present time, the Toronto Blue Jays (8/1) are posted as the favorites to win the 2013 World Series, according to bovada.com .

The Dodgers and Angels are at 8.5/1, the Nationals sit at 9/1, with the Tigers coming in at 10/1.

In case you're wondering, the Yankees are 12/1 and the defending champion Giants are now 14-1.