NEW YORK (AP) — Forbes estimated the New York Yankees have the highest value in Major League Baseball for the 16th straight year at $2.3 billion, and the average for an MLB team increased by 23 percent in the last year to $744 million.
The magazine said Wednesday the Yankees’ value increased from $1.85 billion last year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are second in MLB at $1.62 billion — nearly $400 million below the price paid for the team last May when a group headed by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson bought the franchise from Frank McCourt.
Forbes valued Boston third at $1.3 billion, followed by the Chicago Cubs ($1 billion), Philadelphia ($893 million), the New York Mets ($811 million), San Francisco ($786 million), Texas ($764 million), the Los Angeles Angels ($718 million) and St. Louis ($716 million).
The Washington Nationals came in at No. 14 with a value of $631 million. Forbes says the team’s attendance at Nationals Park was up by 22 percent in 2012, when the Nats made the postseason.
The bottom five are Tampa Bay ($451 million), Kansas City ($457 million), Oakland ($468 million), Pittsburgh ($479 million) and Miami ($520 million).
