I hate it when people try to make the case that there IS parity and/or equality in Major League Baseball. Occasionally you'll hear a Yankee fan trying to justify their team's exorb. payroll by saying "look at the Tampa Rays last year! Look at the Twins! Anyone can win!" So full of shit.

I just took a look at the top 12 teams, payroll-wise (for 2009), and compared them to the bottom 12, to see how much success they've had in the last ten seasons, including 2009.

Top 12:
48 playoff teams out of a possible 80.
23 LCS appearances out of a possible 40.
11 World Series appearances out of a possible 20. (so far)
6 World champions out of a possible 10. (so far)

Bottom 12:
17 playoff teams out of a possible 80.
6 LCS appearances out of a possible 40.
3 World Series appearances out of a possible 20.
2 World champions out of a possible 10.

So the current top 12 have succeeded at a rate of 3 to 4 times that of the current bottom 12, over the last decade. Time for equality, MLB. And, of course, robot umpires.

Go Angels.