Budgets by Division

The budgets have come across the wire for each of the 32 teams preparing to launch their innaugural season in the United League of Baseball. Here is a breakdown by division of player payroll budget. Which teams will be making runs at expensive free agents in an attempt to wear the crown first?

AL North
Toronto Mounties, $85M
Buffalo Mammoths, $82M
Montreal Hilltoppers, $80M
Cleveland Crows, $75M

Pretty reasonable payrolls from the only division to feature Canadien teams.

AL East
Baltimore Ironclads, $96M
New York Legends, $91M
Philadelphia Quakers, $78M
Boston Checkers, $73M

The Yankees they are not--the Legends don't even have the highest payroll in their own division.

AL South
Jacksonville Sharks, $97M
Kansas City Bolts, $80M
Louisville Thoroughbreds, $79M
Houston Vultures, $74M

The Sharks left themselves plenty of financial wiggle room only to trade away 2 big contracts this morning--pending league approval.

AL West
Los Angeles Aces, $102M
Seattle 747s, $90M
Portland Pioneers, $90M
San Francisco Slingers, $79M

The AL West is the only division to feature 3 teams with over $90M. Can the Slingers keep pace?

NL North
Milwaukee Wolves, $105M
Minnesota Lumberjacks, $94M
Chicago Hitmen, $84M
Detroit Roadsters, $78M

The Wolves are the second predatory animal to have the highest payroll in their division, after the Sharks.

NL East
Cincinnati Tall Stacks, $125M
St. Louis Bishops, $116M
Indianapolis Racers, $85M
Pittsburgh Phantoms, $72M

Indeed, the two highest payrolls reside in the same division. This could be quite a heated battle on the open free agent market. It will be interesting to see what kind of coaches Cincinnati ends up with given their $6M available to spend on them.

NL South
Atlanta Fireballs, $108M
New Orleans Jesters, $89M
Charlotte Cavalry, $69M
Tampa Bay Barracuda, $61M

The anti-NL East, the NL South features the two teams with the lowest payrolls.

NL West
Las Vegas Daredevils, $89M
Arizona Geckos, $87M
Salt Lake City Miners, $84M
Oklahoma City Kingfishers, $77M

We finish as we began, with a lot of middle-of-the-road payrolls. Who can emerge from the pack?