Yankees Payroll No Longer Number 1?

Not quite, but it's a lot closer than you'd think.

With closer Mariano Rivera and catcher Jorge Posada on the free-agent market for the moment and the shedding of Alex Choke-riguez's $25+ million contract, the current commitments for 2008 stand at about $105 million.

(Why doesn't TradeSports have a betting market for where A-Rod will end up? Bodog says the Angels are the slight favorites.)

Nate Silver at Baseball Prospectus prognosticates on what the Yankees could do in the off season. Resigning Posada, adding Barry Bonds, and a bump up in pay for some arbitration eligible players would put the 2008 salary at roughly $150 million.

2007's number two payroll team, and number one baseball team the Boston Red Sox, are now committed to about $98 million in 2008 salaries. They have many less holes to fill than the Yankees, but it's not out of the question that the Bronx Bombers could end their 9-year run as the most profligate team in baseball.

Pop quiz: What was the last team besides the Yankees to lead the payroll rankings? Answer

UPDATE
The excellent J.C. Bradbury has a contest over at Sabrenomics on predicting A-Rod's contract. The Wisdom of the Crowds answer after 349 guesses is an 8-yr, $261 million deal which averages to about $32 million per year, above super-agent Scott Boras's apparent $30 million target.

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