More for the buck

If you’re the New York Yankees, you throw money at your problems. The Yankees threw $180 million at Mark Teixeira, $161 million at CC Sabathia and $82.5 million on A.J. Burnett over the winter -- and this was one year after throwing $275 million at Alex Rodriguez.

The Yankees have not won the World Series since 2000, despite sporting the highest payroll in the major leagues every year since then. They did not even qualify for the playoffs last year, but the Tampa Bay Rays did, advancing to the World Series with a payroll one-fifth that of the Yankees.

As teams are learning -- sometimes the hard way -- it can be smarter to invest in a younger player than risk overpaying an older player in free agency. Take a look at two teams below: one with the highest-salaried player at each position, and a team of what we’ll call the “best-valued” player at each position.

They’re both good teams, but the salary gap is wide enough to pay for the 2009 Yankees: The high-salary team makes a combined $231.7 million, and the best-value team makes a combined $31.4 million. The high-salary team has a combined 73 All-Star game appearances, and the best-value team has a combined 14 All-Star game appearances.

Five of the high-salary players wear the Yankees’ uniform. None of the best-value players do.

-- Bill Shaikin

High salary

*--* POS. PLAYER TEAM 2009 SALARY 2008 STATISTICS ALL-STAR LHP Johan Santana Mets $20 million 16-7, 2.53 ERA 3 app. RHP Carlos Cubs $18.8 million 14-6, 3.91 ERA 3 app. Zambrano RP Mariano Yankees $15 million 39 saves, 1.40 9 app. Rivera ERA C Jorge Posada Yankees $13.1 million 268, 3 HR, 22 RBI 5 app. 1B Mark Teixeira Yankees $20.6 million 308, 33 HR, 121 1 app. RBI 2B Chase Utley Phillies $11.3 million 292, 33 HR, 104 3 app. RB SS Derek Jeter Yankees $21.6 million 300, 11 HR, 69 9 app. RBI 3B Alex Yankees $33 million 302, 35 HR, 103 12 app. Rodriguez RBI LF Manny Ramirez Dodgers $25 million 332, 37 HR, 121 12 app. RBI CF Andruw Jones Rangers $21.1 million 158, 3 HR, 14 RBI 5 app. RF Magglio Tigers $19.2 million 317, 21 HR, 103 6 app. Ordonez RBI DH Jim Thome White Sox $13 million 245, 34 HR, 90 5 app. RBI *--*

* NOTE: Cot’s Baseball Contracts website was used for contract information, rounding all figures to the nearest $100,000. In the case of multiyear contracts, each player’s salary was determined by adding a player’s guaranteed 2009 salary and a prorated portion of any signing bonus.

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Best value

*--* POS. PLAYER TEAM 2009 SALARY 2008 STATISTICS ALL-STAR LHP Cole Hamels Phillies $4.4 million 14-10, 3.09 ERA 1 app. RHP James Shields Rays $1.5 million 14-8, 3.56 ERA 0 app. RP Joakim Soria Royals $1 million 42 saves, 1.60 1 app. ERA C Brian McCann Braves $3.7 million 301, 23 HR, 87 3 app. RBI 1B Adrian Padres $3.1 million 279, 36 HR, 119 1 app. Gonzalez RBI 2B Dustin Red Sox $1.8 million 326, 17 HR, 83 1 app. Pedroia RBI SS Hanley Marlins $5.5 million 301, 33 HR, 67 1 app. Ramirez RBI 3B Evan Longoria Rays $600,000 272, 27 HR, 85 1 app. RBI LF Ryan Braun Brewers $1 million 285, 37 HR, 106 1 app. RBI CF Grady Indians $4.8 million 268, 33 HR, 90 3 app. Sizemore RBI RF Nick Markakis Orioles $3.4 million 306, 20 HR, 87 0 app. RBI DH Josh Hamilton Rangers $600,000 304, 32 HR, 130 1 app. RBI *--*