this is from BuzzerManager:
team salaries
Lake Merritt $540 049
UK 516 589
Window Lickers 468 762
Bruins 458 080
RedBull 444 354
Eugene 440 199
The Hawks 424 760
Corn Growers 420 454
ChiTown 406 253
We have a long way to go, but one way of looking at this is to see who will be in a position to add some salary the last 2-3 weeks of the season. Carrying over $500,000 in salary for the entire season, especially when combined with low stadium revenues, is tough to do. this is the story for UK and Lake Merritt -- although both teams have NT players which probably go a good ways to paying for themselves through merchandising.
But the Bruins are making big gate revenues and just behind them are the Hawks. Both are winning, both teams are 8 deep, and both can take on $60 000 to $100 000, at least for a few weeks, and both will probably have some cash by the end of the year. i think, right now, these are the teams best positioned to win. (one other trait -- both have coaches who pooh-pooh their chances of winning a Cup game against a DVI bot team.)
For that matter, the Corn Growers, and to a lesser extent, ChiTown, are raking in big revenue bucks and will probably be in a position to make some positive moves, although probably not this season.