I had a dream last night that I was playing shortstop for the New York Yankees. We were in Boston playing the Red Sox and it was the bottom of the 9th, bases were loaded, A-Rod was up to bat. And then I woke up.

But that got me thinking…how much do these guys get paid anyway? And why was I playing for the Yankees and not the Red Sox? (I hate the Yankees!) Anyway, here are some numbers for you to chew on…

The total team salary for the New York Yankees is $195,229,045
The total team salary for the Boston Red Sox is $143,123,714
Alex Rodriguez makes $27,708,525
The average salary for a public school teacher is around $50,000

You’d think that if one player makes more in one inning of baseball than a teacher makes in an entire year, he’d be guaranteed to win the World Series for his team, right? Wrong. A-Rod and the Yankees are 6/1 odds to win the 2008 World Series. The Boston Red Sox, on the other hand, are the favorites at 9/2 odds to win.

Hey, I’m just saying…