Money well spent? Yankees, Astros big payrolls pay off as they battle for pennant

The New York Yankees and Houston Astros are meeting in the American League Championship Series for the second time in three years, a validation that each team is putting their vast resources to good use. There were plenty of other teams in the top ten that have enjoyed recent success, but underachieved this season, such as the Chicago Cubs (first - $211,546,714), Boston Red Sox (fourth - $204,335,719), San Francisco Giants (fifth - $199,729,652), and Los Angeles Angels (sixth - $177,328,583). The two teams competing for the National League pennant also entered this season with a top-ten payroll, with the Washington Nationals having the third-highest payroll at $204,449,127, and St. Louis Cardinals' payroll was $165,253,599, in ninth, right behind Houston by a mere $399,001.