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Yankees ranked as MLB's most valuable franchise for 21st straight year

Mike Oz

The New York Yankees might not be riding the highest of highs right now after a 14-1 thumping on Tuesday night by the rival Boston Red Sox, but here’s a bit of news that the Yankees (and their fans) can continually call “scoreboard” about.

Forbes released its annual list of MLB team values on Wednesday morning and the Yankees rank — big dramatic drum roll, please — No. 1. The Yankees topping the list is sort of like Daniel Day-Lewis getting nominated for an Oscar. Or Drake making a No. 1 song. Or, well, the Yankees winning the World Series.

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This is the 21st straight year the Yankees have topped Forbes’ list. And that streak may only be capped at 21 because that’s when Forbes started compiling the list. The Yankees have topped it in good times and in bad, a dynasty in the truest sense of the word.

As for specifics, the Yankees were valued at $4 billion this year, according to Forbes’ data. That’s a billion more than the Los Angeles Dodgers, who ranked No. 2 at $3 billion. The Red Sox, if you’re wondering, Yankees fans, ranked fifth at $2.8 billion. Here’s the full list, via Forbes:

1. New York Yankees ($4B)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers ($3B)
3. Chicago Cubs ($2.9B)
4. San Francisco Giants ($2.85B)
5. Boston Red Sox ($2.8B)
6. New York Mets ($2.1B)
7. St Louis Cardinals ($1.9B)
8. Los Angeles Angels ($1.8B)
9. Philadelphia Phillies ($1.7B)
10. Washington Nationals ($1.675B)
11. Houston Astros ($1.65B)
12. Atlanta Braves ($1.625B)
13. Texas Rangers ($1.6B)
14. Chicago White Sox ($1.5B)
15. Seattle Mariners ($1.45B)
16. Toronto Blue Jays ($1.35B)
17. San Diego Padres ($1.27B)
18. Pittsburgh Pirates ($1.26B)
19. Detroit Tigers ($1.225B)
20. Arizona Diamondbacks ($1.21B)
21. Baltimore Orioles ($1.2B)
22. Minnesota Twins ($1.15B)
23. Colorado Rockies ($1.1B)
24. Cleveland Indians ($1.045B)
25. Milwaukee Brewers ($1.03B)
26. Oakland Athletics ($1.02B)
27. Kansas City Royals ($1.015B)
28. Cincinnati Reds ($1.01B)
29. Miami Marlins ($1B)
30. Tampa Bay Rays ($900M)

Forget the scoreboard, the Yankees are killing it on the P&L sheet. (AP)
Forget the scoreboard, the Yankees are killing it on the P&L sheet. (AP)

As you can see, there’s still a big gap between the haves and the have-nots in MLB. The Marlins, notably, were valued lower by Forbes than the price paid by the new Derek Jeter/Bruce Sherman ownership group, which was $1.2 billion.

The average value of an MLB franchise in 2018 is $1.645 billion, which is up about seven percent and is about equal to the NBA, where the average team value is $1.65 billion. The NFL surprasses both those numbers at $2.5 billion, according to Forbes’ data.

In the context of all that, the Yankees are killin’ it on the P&L — and it might be enough to forget about all those Giancarlo Stanton Ks for another day.

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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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