The big boys are heading into the September stretch drive while the rejects like the Pirates are heading into another end-of-season abyss. While things continue on the field, there have been some fascinating numbers buzzing around the game the last two weeks about several teams and I'm not talking about batting averages or the latest speed of Aroldis Chapman's fastball.

I'm talking financial numbers. Profit numbers of teams you don't put in the class of the Yankees, Red Sox or Phillies as ones playing in front of full houses and raking in the dough.

The Associated Press and Deadspin.com published plenty of documents of inside ledger sheets which the New York Daily News reported may have been obtained through an insurance firm working with several of the teams. Interesting reading.

The documents show that small-market clubs have earned tidy profits in recent years, much of it coming from their revenue-sharing awards, and have not really spent much on payroll to try to win.

The teams that were discussed were the Pirates, Marlins, Rays, Angels and Rangers (the latter two paid into revenue sharing rather than received it). The Marlins received nearly $92 million in revenue sharing in 2008 and 2009 while the Rays got about $75 million in 2007 and 2008. The Pirates, meanwhile, got a combined $69.3 million in the same two years -- and pocketed $29.4 million in profit. They even paid their partners $20.4 million in 2008.

A furor developed in Miami over the information because the Marlins are in the process of building a ballpark mostly taxpayer funded. Same thing in Pittsburgh because the Pirates, who admittedly have spent liberally on player development and draft picks, continue to spend little on the big-league payroll and have clinched their 18th straight losing season.

Yahoo! sports columnist Jeff Passan even went so far as to call the Marlins' owners "swindlers." The Marlins are paying only about $155 million of the $634 million ballpark being built in the Little Havana section that will open in 2012 on the site of the old Orange Bowl. Dade County took out more than $400 million in loans that won't be paid off until 2049, at gobs of additional interest.

It turns out the Marlins had a combined operating profit of $49 million in 2008 and 2009, largely because they spent a paltry $59 million on player payroll over those two years.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa cqwants to reopen the ballpark agreement and get the team to chip in more.

"I firmly believe it is apparent that the Florida Marlins should have contributed more, and the public less, to keep baseball in South Florida," she said.

In the wake of the Marlins' situation, good luck to teams holding out their hands for government help for new stadiums. And that means you, Rays and A's.

The Pirates' payroll this year is $39 million, lowest in the bigs. President Frank Coonelly insists it will go up in 2011, but it would have to go up quite a bit for the team to have any shot of breaking its disgraceful streak of losing. In their favor is the fact they've spent $31 million the last three years on draft picks. But at some point, those picks will become big leaguers and you have to pay them.

So far the Pirates have shown no willingness to do that. MLB has cracked down on the Marlins in the past, telling them to stop pocketing revenue sharing funds. The Pirates and Royals also draw plenty of suspicion in that area. Until these perennial losers start winning, that will continue. Especially now that the numbers show how lined their pockets are getting.

Mets matters

* A big help to the Bisons this year by the Mets has been depth in the season, both at Double-A Binghamton and, in the case of catcher Jean Luc Blaquiere, Class A St. Lucie.

Look at this list of Bingo Mets who helped the Herd in 2010: MVP Lucas Duda, Nick Evans, Luis Hernandez, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Jose De La Torre and Josh Stinson.

"We've sent a lot of guys to the major leagues and yet we've been able to get good players up here still," said Buffalo manager Ken Oberkfell. "It's a credit to the farm system and to the scouting department as far as drafting players."

* The Mets went through the entire month of August without winning or losing more than two consecutive games. That's tough to do. The Elias Sports Bureau reports it's only the fifth time they've done that in a month in 49 years and the first since April, 1982.

* The Wally Backman-led Brooklyn Cyclones have the best record in the New York-Penn League and the former Mets second baseman is getting plenty of run in the New York media as a possible replacement for Jerry Manuel. I'm skeptical.

Backman has been a great manager in the low minors. You want to test him for the big time, reward Oberkfell with a bench coach job in New York and put Backman in Buffalo.

* It appears like knuckleballer R.A. Dickey may get an offer from the Amazins' on a multi-year deal after the season. Great guy. Great story. From minor-league deal to a solid member of the rotation.

Minor matters

* Whichever IL team lands in Oklahoma City for the annual Triple-A National Championship Game on Sept. 21 might be facing a road game for the first time. The Oklahoma City Redhawks are one of the Pacific Coast League's four division leaders and are in play to represent their league in the game for the first time since it began in 2007.

* Look for some affiliation shifts in Triple-A to start next week. The Rangers are likely leaving Oklahoma City for Round Rock (which will jettison the Astros) and the Blue Jays are desperate to get anywhere from Las Vegas. They'd certainly want back in to the International League although the only possibility appears to be Charlotte, which has an expiring agreement with the White Sox.

* Promotion of the Week: The Double-A Portland Sea Dogs gave free tickets Friday night to any fan named Earl who showed photo ID at the box office, in honor of the petering-out hurricane that was snaking up the Atlantic Coast.

* Batavia has also clinched its NY-P League division in a season that has seen the Rochester Red Wings announce they're ending their financial support for the franchise.

The Muckdogs are last in the league in attendance at just over 1,000 per game and Dwyer Stadium can't compete with shiny places like Brooklyn, Staten Island and Aberdeen. Batavia's manager is former big league and Bisons catcher Dann Bilardello.

Around the horn

* The Yankees and Rays set an all-time record by being locked in a tie for a division lead for eight straight days. The stalemate ended Tuesday, when the Blue Jays knocked the Rays a game back with a 10-run inning en route to an 11-3 win.

The previous record of seven days tied was set by the Astros and Dodgers in the NL West in September, 1980. They finished the season tied and Houston won a one-game playoff for the title.

* Year of the pitcher? Sure is. The CC Sabathia-Jonathan Albaladejo combined one-hitter Thursday was the 25th no-hitter or one-hitter this season, the most since there were 26 in 1988.

* Bud Selig is talking about how attendance should crack 60 million this year and how many teams are doing well and he's right. But how can the stands be so empty for first-place teams in Cincinnati, Atlanta and Tampa Bay? It's a joke. Especially in Cincy, which is supposed to be some great baseball town. Things finally perked up there last week with the callup of Chapman.

mharrington@buffnews.comnull