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WASHINGTON, April 9-- The New York Yankees once again came in top spot as Forbes released its annual Major League Baseball valuations on Thursday. It was the 23rd edition of the rankings, with the Yankees franchise maintaining its record of earning the number one spot each year. Forbes said the Yankees, whose 27 World Series titles are the most in MLB history, are valued at 5 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of nine percent from 2019. The Los Angeles Dodgers (3.4 billion U.S. dollars), Boston Red Sox (3.3 billion), Chicago Cubs (3.2 billion) and San Francisco Giants (3.1 billion) round out the top five. Only one of the 30 MLB teams came in under 1 billion dollars, with the Miami Marlins valued at 980 million. Forbes said the teams are riding a wave of profitability that will help offset any downturn from the COVID-19-delayed season, adding that MLB profits were at record highs last season "thanks to flat player costs and increased revenue of 16 million U.S. dollars per team on average". The No. 1 Yankees generated 683 million dollars in revenue in 2019, 127 million more than the second-placed Dodgers. MLB has postponed its 2020 campaign, which had been scheduled to start on March 26, as the U.S. struggles to slow the spread of COVID-19. | 
