April 9 (Reuters) - The New York Yankees are Major League Baseball's most valuable team for a 23rd consecutive year, according to the annual list published by business magazine Forbes website on Thursday.

The 27-time World Series champion, which has held the top spot since Forbes began tracking MLB team finances in 1998, is worth $5 billion, up 9% from last year, Forbes said in a news release.

The Los Angeles Dodgers ($3.4 billion), Boston Red Sox ($3.3 billion), Chicago Cubs ($3.2 billion) and San Francisco Giants ($3.1 billion) rounded out the Top World News five.

The reigning World Series champion Washington Nationals were valued at $1.9 billion, up 9% from last year.

According to Forbes, the average MLB team is now worth $1.85 billion, a 4% rise from last year, which marked the smallest year-over-year increase since 2010.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto Editing by Toby Davis)