A Yankees blog, River Ave. Blues notes that "no team has ever paid more for a World Series championship trophy than the 2007 Boston Red Sox did."

"They had an opening day payroll of over $143 million, nearly $30 million more than the Mets", but not as much as the Yankees ($189,639,045).

'06 St. Louis Cardinals ($88,891,371) 11th highest payroll in MLB
'05 Chicago White Sox ($75,178,000) 13th highest payroll in MLB
'04 Boston Red Sox ($127,298,500) 2nd highest payroll in MLB
'03 Florida Marlins ($48,750,000) 25th highest payroll in MLB
'02 Anaheim Angels ($61,721,667) 15th highest payroll in MLB
'01 Arizona Diamondbacks ($85,247,999) 8th highest payroll in MLB
'99-2000 New York Yankees ($88,130,709-$92,938,260) Highest payroll in MLB

The Yankees had the highest payroll in 1999 and 2007. The difference between then and now is a robust $101,508,336.

When I was a boy, you could buy a ballplayer for a cool $60K (Roger McDowell 1985)