salary adjusted standings -- methodology

salary-adjusted 2007 mlb baseball standings:
2007 average team salary: $77.56 million

In baseball, as with most things in life, having money is a considerable advantage. Teams with more money tend to win more, as well they should. This site applies a "salary handicap" to level the playing field (so to speak). Every team is evaluated based not on its "real" record, but rather on its expected winning percentage given its salary.

The handicap is applied based on a formula derived from salary and winning percentage data from 1997-2007

Salary-Adjusted Standings

Team	Adjusted Wins	Adjusted Losses	Adjusted Winning Pct	Record Adjustment	Salary in Millions
AL East
Tampa Bay	96	41	0.698	+10 games	$ 35 M
Baltimore	87	50	0.635	+1 games	$ 73 M
Toronto	87	50	0.636	+1 games	$ 72 M
Boston	78	59	0.570	-8 games	$ 120 M
New York Yankees	67	70	0.491	-19 games	$ 195 M
AL Central
Kansas City	93	44	0.677	+7 games	$ 47 M
Cleveland	91	46	0.662	+5 games	$ 56 M
Minnesota	89	48	0.650	+3 games	$ 63 M
Detroit	85	52	0.620	-1 games	$ 83 M
Chicago White Sox	81	56	0.592	-5 games	$ 103 M
AL West
Oakland	89	48	0.652	+3 games	$ 62 M
Texas	88	49	0.642	+2 games	$ 68 M
Seattle	84	53	0.613	-2 games	$ 88 M
Los Angeles Angels	81	56	0.592	-5 games	$ 103 M
NL East
Florida	101	36	0.737	+15 games	$ 15 M
Washington	89	48	0.650	+3 games	$ 63 M
Philadelphia	84	53	0.613	-2 games	$ 88 M
Atlanta	84	53	0.610	-2 games	$ 90 M
New York Mets	81	56	0.595	-5 games	$ 101 M
NL Central
Pittsburgh	93	44	0.677	+7 games	$ 47 M
Milwaukee	90	47	0.658	+4 games	$ 58 M
Cincinnati	90	47	0.654	+4 games	$ 61 M
St. Louis	84	53	0.611	-2 games	$ 89 M
Houston	83	54	0.606	-3 games	$ 93 M
Chicago Cubs	83	54	0.604	-3 games	$ 94 M
NL West
Colorado	94	43	0.687	+8 games	$ 41 M
Arizona	90	47	0.655	+4 games	$ 60 M
San Diego	88	49	0.639	+2 games	$ 70 M
San Francisco	84	53	0.610	-2 games	$ 90 M
Los Angeles Dodgers	82	55	0.599	-4 games	$ 98 M

Actual Standings

Team Wins Losses Winning Pct Expected Winning Pct Salary in Millions
AL East
New York Yankees 86 51 0.628 0.639 $ 195 M
Boston 86 51 0.628 0.550 $ 120 M
Baltimore 86 51 0.628 0.494 $ 73 M
Toronto 86 51 0.628 0.493 $ 72 M
Tampa Bay 86 51 0.628 0.449 $ 35 M
AL Central
Detroit 86 51 0.628 0.506 $ 83 M
Cleveland 86 51 0.628 0.474 $ 56 M
Chicago White Sox 86 51 0.628 0.530 $ 103 M
Minnesota 86 51 0.628 0.483 $ 63 M
Kansas City 86 51 0.628 0.464 $ 47 M
AL West
Seattle 86 51 0.628 0.512 $ 88 M
Oakland 86 51 0.628 0.481 $ 62 M
Texas 86 51 0.628 0.489 $ 68 M
Los Angeles Angels 86 51 0.628 0.530 $ 103 M
NL East
New York Mets 86 51 0.628 0.528 $ 101 M
Florida 86 51 0.628 0.426 $ 15 M
Washington 86 51 0.628 0.483 $ 63 M
Philadelphia 86 51 0.628 0.512 $ 88 M
Atlanta 86 51 0.628 0.515 $ 90 M
NL Central
Milwaukee 86 51 0.628 0.477 $ 58 M
Cincinnati 86 51 0.628 0.480 $ 61 M
Pittsburgh 86 51 0.628 0.464 $ 47 M
Houston 86 51 0.628 0.518 $ 93 M
Chicago Cubs 86 51 0.628 0.519 $ 94 M
St. Louis 86 51 0.628 0.513 $ 89 M
NL West
San Francisco 86 51 0.628 0.515 $ 90 M
Colorado 86 51 0.628 0.457 $ 41 M
Los Angeles Dodgers 86 51 0.628 0.524 $ 98 M
Arizona 86 51 0.628 0.479 $ 60 M
San Diego 86 51 0.628 0.491 $ 70 M