Forbes: Phillies' value jumps to $609 million

The Phillies are valued at $609 million, the sixth-highest total in baseball, according to Forbes magazine.

The figure represents an increase of 13 percent over last year when the Phillies were valued at $496 million and ranked seventh.

The magazine cited strong attendance - the Phillies have sold out 123 consecutive games - and increased local television ratings.

According to Forbes, the average team is worth $523 million, the most ever and 7 percent more than last year.

Only the Mets, San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians saw the value of the team decrease in the last year.

As expected, the Yankees are the most valuable team in baseball for the 14th consecutive year, up 6 percent to $1.7 billion. The gap between the Yankees and the No. 2 team continues to grow. Boston is second at $912 million.

Pittsburgh was at the bottom of the list with a value of $304 million, a 5 percent increase from last year.

Four Phillies are among the top 20 players on the list of most popular jerseys based on sales for the 2010 calendar year.

Roy Halladay is third; Chase Utley is fourth; Cliff Lee is fifth, although his ranking reflects his Seattle, Texas and Phillies jerseys; and Ryan Howard is 18th.

The Yankees' Derek Jeter tops the list followed by Minnesota's Joe Mauer in front of the three Phillies.

Three rookies cracked the top 20 list - Atlanta's Jason Heyward (11), Washington's Stephen Strasburg (12) and San Francisco's Buster Posey (19).

Overall, the Phillies were fourth in sales of officially licensed merchandise. The Yankees were first, followed by the Red Sox and Dodgers.

Sales for MLB products reached an all-time high and were up 6 percent over 2009, according to a release from MLB.