Dodgers place 4th

Forbes is out with its annual rundown on how much ball clubs are worth and the Blue Crew weighs in at $694 million, a 10 percent increase from a year ago. They're behind the Red Sox, Mets and, of course, the Yankees, which tower over everybody with a value of $1.3 billion. The magazine has the Dodgers generating revenues of $224 million last year, with operating income of $20 million. Both the Sox and the Yankees had operating losses in 2007, though it's best to be wary about these numbers (ball clubs can finagle their financials in all kinds of ways). The Angels rank sixth, with a value of $500 million. As for the overall results, here's what Forbes says:

The key numbers show that the national pastime is more popular than ever. In 2007, baseball broke its attendance record for the fourth consecutive season when 79.5 million fans hit the turnstiles. A big plus: Interleague games, where teams in the American and National leagues square off against each other, averaged 34,900 fans per game, 15% more than intraleague contests.

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Upshot: Team owners are getting rich like never before. During 2007, revenue for MLB's 30 teams went up 7.7%, to $5.5 billion. The average team is now worth $472 million, 9.5% higher than last year and 143% more than when Forbes first calculated team values in 1998. Again the Bronx Bombers sit atop baseball with a value of $1.3 billion. George Steinbrenner, who paid $10 million for the team in 1973, could probably teach Warren Buffett a thing or two about investing.

By the way, the Yankees should be worth at least $1.5 billion next year, when the team moves into its new stadium and picks up all kinds of added revenue from sponsorships and premium seating.