The PostGame

According to an ESPN.com article today, Grady Little has resigned as manager of the Dodgers for personal reasons, leaving the door wide open for Joe Torre to replace him as skipper. There has been widespread media speculation that Torre was heading to the Los Angeles after his decision to not resign with the Yankees, and The New York Post reported yesterday that “Torre had agreed in principle to a $14.5 million, three-year contract with the Dodgers.”

Los Angeles has the sixth-highest payroll in the major leagues, at over $108 million, yet they still finished the 2006 season 82-80, just the fourth-best record in the five-team National League West. That’s not quite as bad as, say, Baltimore ($95 million, 69 wins) or the Chicago White Sox ($109 million, 72 wins), but it’s still not very efficient.

Hell, the NL West-champion Arizona Diamondbacks only spent $52 million while going 90-72, the best record in the entire National League. Colorado, who made it to the World Series, only spent $54 million while going 90-73 (including a one-game playoff with the Padres).

I think the lesson here is clear: for the best dollars-per-wins ratio, don’t name your sports franchise after a city; name it after a state.

Oh, you think that’s a stupid theory? Don’t blame me if you can’t understand my complicated logarithmic regression analysis. I can’t help it if my brain is bigger than Jake Gyllenhaal’s vagina. God delivered it, I signed for it.