Real salary costs

The Boston Globe has a graphic that shows what I've been trying to say for years: the difference in the Red Sox' and Yankees' payroll isn't merely salaries.

Here's how it breaks down:
Boston
Payroll: $135 million
Revenue sharing: $42 million
Luxury tax: $3 million
Total: $180 million

New York Yankees
Payroll: $207 million
Revenue sharing: $63 million
Luxury tax: $25 million
Total: $295 million

Difference: $115 million. Difference without revenue sharing: $94 million.

I separate out the revenue sharing, because I consider payroll and the luxury tax on that payroll to be something of a choice. That difference of $94 million is greater than the entire payrolls of all but 5 teams -- the Yankees, Boston, the Mets, Philadelphia, and Los Anaheim. A simple cardinal ranking of payrolls -- showing NYY first and BOS second -- is highly deceptive. The Sox spend $17 million more (on salaries alone) than the Mets.