OK fine, the signings wouldn't boost attendance. For sake of argument, let's assume the Twins never make the playoffs and attendance holds at 2013 levels. Jim Pohlad said "we're happy where we're at" when the payroll was 100m in 2012. Attendance was 2.744m in 2012 and went down by 300,000 in 2013. So, using the same assumptions and calculations above we can show there was 15m in gained income from ticket sales: The average ticket price in 2013 was $30.68. We would have had to pay substantially more than LAD/DET to sign them. $2M/each overpay seems reasonable so total cost of $39M. 43,000 seats total 2012 attendance = 2,774,000 2013 attendance = 2,477,644 34,250 in attendance for every home game = 2,774,000 Delta 2013 vs 2012 = 300,000 $9.2m in reduced ticket sales 25m in reduced payroll 15.8m in gained income Add in the 175m t.v. money and there's your 40m/yr