How proud can you be of a team that spends over 50% more than the second highest team (Boston).  Gosh, for $192 million, I'll bet I could field a playoff/series team every year, too.

Daniel, the Yankees will eventually become the victims of their own success.  At some point, the other 29 owners will get together and shove revenue sharing down Steinbrenner's throat.  And he'll have nobody but himself to blame.  Here in NY, there is a backlash starting to ferment over the plan to tear down Yankee Stadium and replace it with a new stadium, right next door, which will have luxury boxes.  This is designed to spike the stadium revenue to buy more players and buy the World Series every year. 

"Why don't we have Roy Halladay and C.C. Sabathia on the Yankees?"  In a couple years, they might.

Comment by James Robertson

It doesn't actually work that way. The Yankees haven't won since 2000. In 2004, the Sox got by them. At the end of the day, you still have to play the games.

James, my comment is about post-2009, when the "New" Yankee Stadium is scheduled to be online.  There are a lot of little details here that are solely designed to spike the stadium revenue.  First and foremost are the 57 luxury boxes, which will rent for upwards of $500,000 a season.  The stadium will cost New York taxpayers some $400 million. The Yankees will no longer pay rent nor real estate tax, and they will not pay to tear down the old ballpark, and they will be able to deduct the construction cost from the revenue-sharing pool, thereby weakening their competition as they strengthen themselves.  This has stopped being a sport to me.  I grew up a Yankee fan.  My father wanted to name me "Mickey", after guess who.  But I am done.  Rooting for the Yankees now is like rooting for Microsoft.

Comment by James Robertson

The Red Sox actually spent a fair bit of change on Beckett - and if he were performing up to expectations, things might well have gone differently. Post 2009 - we'll see. The Yankees were relatively better off all through the 80's, and they still stunk. The Orioles have a great stadium deal and a lot of money (Tobacco lawsuit boy Angelos). What they don't have is a good GM - which is also what the Yankees lacked in the 80's. Tons of cash can be spent well, or misspent. Witness ParcPlace, which squandered a fairly successful IPO.

James, the Yankees have been to the playoffs every year since 1994, have been to the World Series 6 times and won 4 of them.  The majority of the teams that have won the Series since 1994 have been in the top 10, spending-wise.

As for the 80's, things were different then.  First, the Yankee's payroll was roughly on par with the rest of the top 10 teams, not the whopping +50% it is now.  Second, there were only two divisions instead of three as there are now, making getting to the playoffs much more difficult.  Third, there were fewer teams, so there was more talent to go around.  The A-list players are now that much more important, and they're rapidly collecting where the money's at.

Yes, yes, management matters and if the Yankees had, say, the Twin's intelligence when it comes to player management, they *would* be winning the Series every year.

I'm actually hoping the Yankees do win the Series, btw.  I figure the more they win, the faster it will sink in with the other owners, and the public, that the current situation is a frickin joke. 

Comment by James Robertson

There's a simpler answer, and it would achieve the same thing. Move a couple of teams that have stunk long term - say the Pirates and the Royals - to New York. NYC could easily support 4 teams, it would create some fascinating rivalries - and it would spread the money around quite nicely.

James, that's ridiculous.  The owners aren't just going to move those teams.  They certainly aren't going to get a bigger fan base than what they have now.

The *best* solution is a payroll cap. 

New York used to have three teams.  My father clamied to have hit a home run in the Polo Grounds in an all-star game when he was in high school (which, if you know how the Polo Grounds was laid out, wasn't too difficult if you could hit it down the line).  My end point was the announcement that they are tearing down Yankee Stadium.  Multiply 57 luxury boxes by $500,000 each, then add in the fact that they won't pay rent or real estate taxes, and why?  Would the Red Sox tear down Fenway to put up a new park with luxury boxes?  Would the Cubs tear down Wrigley?  Some stadiums just BEG to be torn down (like that abortion in Kansas City), but Yankee Stadium is hallowed ground.  So the Yankees argue that the REAL Yankee Stadium was essentially demolished in the renovation of 1974-1975, and ripping it down now is no different from tearing down a Pizza Hut.  If they were in last place every year because their horrible stadium deal didn't provide enough money to pay decent players, that'd be one thing.  But they are in the playoffs every year.  Tearing down Yankee Stadium should cause any baseball fan, and especially any Yankee fan, to rise up in opposition.  This deal was shoved through the New York City Council without even a public hearing.  This is a disgrace.  I cannot root for the Yankees any more.  I cannot, in good conscience, hope for pure greed to triumph.

Comment by James Robertson

NY used to have the Yankees, the Dodgers, and the Giants. Don't be so sure that teams wouldn't jump at the chance to move to NY - the biggest obstacles would be the Mets and Yankees, not the teams looking to move.

As to Yankee Stadium, it really isn't the same place - they gutted it in 1974-1975. If the city is dumb enough to pay for it, then Steinbrenner should definitely take it.

James, even if those teams *did* move to NY (and i don't think they would or would be allowed to) there we would be a net negative effect on baseball.  Instead of the "World Series" it would degenerate into "Some random team vs NY" every year.  The fun factor would drop and, with that, the overall baseball fanbase.

With the steroid rules *finally* in place I was just starting to get back into baseball, but the payroll situation will kill my enthusiasm again if it's not fixed.

Daniel, I agree with your idea of a payroll cap.  This works well elsewhere, allowing the Green Bay Packers to be competitive with the New York Giants / Jets.  Just go down the payroll list in MLB, and see how well it correlates with winning percentage.  Both New York teams are leading their divisions.  One Los Angeles team is leading its division, and the other is second.

Comment by James Robertson

Where were the Mets last year, Tom? And how many World Series titles have they won?

> Where were the Mets last year, Tom? And how many World Series titles have they won?

Sometimes, even money won't save a team from a front office that doesn't know WTF they're doing.

But to answer your question, in the last 20 years, the Mets have made it to the World Series twice.  That's more than the Royals, Mariners, Pirates, Reds, and Expos combined.