Why the Yankees ruined this sport

And apparently parity means nothing. Just look at the Rays. Winning all season. Make the World Series. Still had WAY less fans then they should have had.

baseball still provides a better bet for the surprise teams to go far and even win it all than the nba.

mlb had 8 different franchises win the championship the past decade, nba had only 8 THE PAST 30 YEARS!

Well people look at the payroll. They don't take into affect that the entire payroll is not used every game. When Joba pitches...Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte's salaries are brought in as the reason why they "should win". Same with when Posada is on the bench and Mariano isn't used.

Exactly. It's called capitalism

This statement really bothers me...

The goal of the Yankees and Red Sox is not to put Pittsburgh and Florida out of business.....at least it shouldn't be....

That's the same for every team though.....we can't go through game by game and break down payroll for every team....but even if we did, I don't think the picture would look any different.

I have posted Joe Posnanski's link on how much more the Yankees spend than every other team and I'll post it here again. It is good reading and shows just how big the gap is not just between NYY and Kansas City but between NYY and the second place team in payroll. Here is the crux of the blog.....it's worth reading regardless of your position on this.

In 2002, the Yankees spent $17 million more in payroll than any other team.

In 2003, the Yankees spent $35 million more in payroll than any other team.

In 2004, the Yankees spent $57 million more in payroll than any other team. I mean, it’s ridiculous from the start but this is pure absurdity. Basically, this is like the Yankees saying: “OK, let’s spend exactly as much as the second-highest payroll in baseball. OK, we’re spending exactly as much. And now … let’s add the Oakland A’s. No, I mean let’s add their whole team, the whole payroll, add it on top and let’s play some ball!”

In 2005, the Yankees spent $85 million more than any other team. Not a misprint. Eight five.

In 2006, the Yankees spent $74 million more than any other team.

In 2007, the Yankees spent $40 million more than any other team — cutbacks, you know.

In 2008, the Yankees spent $72 million more than any other team.

In 2009, the Yankees spent $52 million more than any other team

Here is the article:

https://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2009/11/05/the-yankees-payroll/

I'm not saying the Yankees are breaking rules or doing something wrong......but nobody can tell me that the above post is good for the future of baseball....it isn't in any shape, way or form.

Well said jpero!!

You really can't reason with this sparky dude. All he cares about is his yankee team and nothing else. This guy has tunnel vision. I wouldn't even waste my time trying to rationalize with this guy.

Why do people go out on the limb to say all I care about is the Yankees and not baseball? I kinda talked about that already.

Yankees are #1 on my mind and the rest of baseball is a very distant 2nd. As long as the Yankees are in the race...they will be #1 on my mind. I LOVE baseball, but I LOVE the Yankees a whole lot more. Like a true fan. I'm spoiled...sue me.

And the only reason jpero argues with me is because I talk bad about his O's. If I was talking about the Pirates he probably wouldn't have intervened.

And yes...I am biased. Which fan isn't biased to an extent? I'm not saying the Yanks are going to win the World Series. I'll joke about it some times...and I'll be watching every game hoping they do win...but that's about it. You'll see during the season how I work. No need to make judgements based on my postseason/offseason manners. Stick around for the season to see how things go.

And that is what I don't understand. Nobody was complaining about the Yankees having Giambi and Abreu. But when they left and the Yankees upgraded to Sabathia, Burnett and Tex...people need to realize that they lose TONS of salary. And I've mentioned this before. They gave Pettitte less money, Abreu, Giambi and Pavano were coming off the books. They had money to throw at people. And why would they just pocket that money? If you got it...flaunt it. Right?

Didn't that come from Prime 9 on the MLB Network? I watched that the other day. It was the most lopsided trades of all time. That is a really good show they came up with imo.

Depending on your rotation...your Twins should have 1 hell of a season. They will be 1 team I'll be watching with my first season of MLB Extra Innings . Their offense against right handed pitchers will be incredible.

Well even the Rays couldn't sell out when they had their run.

And yes...more people would want to play for the Yankees. I mean...if you can't get $300 million contracts...you'll take what you can get. A $5 million difference between playing with Kansas City (no offense mmac) and playing with New York/Boston/Los Angeles in the bright lights and with their media stream...doesn't make it that much of a difference.

And remember...Bud Selig isn't the one projecting $400 million in loses.

None taken, sir

Sparky,  I do believe you care about baseball and I think you would probably still be a Yankees fan even if they went through a Kansas City-like streak of ineptitude......I don't doubt your sincerity and enthusiasm for the game and in fact, very much respect the fact you are in here reporting on all things baseball, not just all things NY Yankees. I respect your position and look forward to your contributions throughout the year.

However, as a Yankee "fan" I don't think you are really looking at the whole picture. The health of the game is not defined by the health of the Yankees or three or four other teams. The debate in this whole issue to me stems from the fact that a lot of people, like myself, who grew up playing baseball, followed the major leaguers and such have become at least disinterested, if not completely removed from any interest in baseball. Now, as you know, I'm a Royals fan. I grew up watching a winning team. Since the death of Ewing Kauffman being a Royals fan has been painful, at best. They have been so poorly run that they would have been a losing team regardless of payroll and revenue sharing. An example of this is the starting outfield the Royals had in the early 2000's of Beltran, Dye and Damon.......Beltran and Damon were drafted and came up through the Royals system. The Royals didn't think they could afford any of them (and they were probably right) the problem was the haphazard manner in which they got rid of them and essentially gave away something for less than nothing...I think Dayton Moore, the current GM, is trying to right the ship and has the program moving (albeit at a glacial pace) in the right direction. Problem for me as a Royals fan is that the best case scenario for them, given the current state of baseball is probably the Minnesota Twins.....now, being the Minnesota Twins isn't a bad deal, but it's very rare when anyone actually thinks the Twins are real contenders for championship. Kind of like being a fan of an NFL team and aspiring to be a wild-card contender a couple of times a decade. It just isn't fun. If I didn't gamble on baseball, I wouldn't give it a second thought. Probably wouldn't even check the boxscores.

Why should a salary cap be in place? In my opinion it would at least give teams like KC, Pittsburgh and the like an opportunity to compete on a slightly more level playing field with the New York's of the MLB world. Would it solve all the problems, no it wouldn't. But at least I wouldn't know for a fact that Zack Greinke will be pitching somewhere else when his contract is up, there would be a hope in hell of keeping some homegrown talent and give the community a chance to rally around a superstar.  Maybe it wouldn't matter, but it would change the balance of power to a broader range of teams.....well run, well managed teams who treated players well would be able to compete if the contract offers were similar.....right now, they aren't. And when NY overpays for players, the rest of baseball suffers for it.

Finally, I'm not bitter about this.....I'll continue to watch and gamble on baseball. I'll continue to come on here and have fun with may sarcastic Kansas City jabs......God knows, they certainly deserve it.....but I sincerely doubt, given the current financial climate of baseball that the day will come when I think the Royals will be competitive on a championship caliber level....and I expect to be on the planet another forty years or so.....hopefully that will explain my indifference towards the sport and being willing to point out the insanity that is the New York Yankees payroll.

Quote Originally Posted by Sparky10191:

Damnit mmac...you had to post so much. I'm only home for a bit but I'll come back later to reply...and finish reading everything.

    I forgot what I was writing about halfway through!

First I will say baseball has been diverse. I mean...look at the NL West over the last 10 years. It's been Every team has made the playoffs at least once and 2 have made the World Series. In the NL Central...they've had 4 teams make the playoffs. The NL East...4 as well right? The AL West? 3 of the 4. The AL Central had 4 of 5 and the AL East had 3 of 5. So...in the past decade, 7 of 30 teams have no made the playoffs. And 14 different teams have made the World Series. It's not like just 4 teams are dominating everything.

Yes...no salary cap is unfair. I never said it was fair. I say what the Yankees doing is fair under the rules. Yes...if there was a salary cap it would give lower market teams more of a chance. The Yankees wouldn't be able to sign ALL the stars but they would still get a majority of them. But that goes back to the whole thing thorpe and I were saying. Players would want to go to New York to play for the Yankees. Mainly for the money...but for the big stage. Lets say baseball was just starting off and the highest ranked prospect could go anywhere he wanted. The 2 highest offers were the Yankees and Royals with the same offer. No offense to Kansas City...but New York has more to offer. Same thing with Los Angeles. Lets also use a basketball situation here. I heard over the weekend that James would love to play with Wade on an NBA team. Say Pujols and A-Rod would want to play on the same team...both becoming free agents. If you put those 2 on a team...the team would be 100% better. BUT...if they both were offered the same contract in NY or Tampa...where would they rather play? We saw when the Rays went to the World Series...the fans didn't show up all season like they should have. Then the front runners came out come playoff time (where a lot of the fans in the ALCS were cheering for the Sox). I'm starting to be like you and forget where I'm going with this...happens a lot. I believe they would rather go play for NY because the fans are better. And as we've seen in Pittsburgh...the fans don't really care about baseball. It's football country up there. And I assume they gave up on the GM and Owner after letting their best players go over the last few years. But like I was saying...sure the Yankees couldn't outbid everyone...but if it were more even...they'd get a majority of the top players anyway...as well as other big markets. Sure that's just an opinion and I could be totally wrong...but we'll never really know for sure.

And yes...the Yankees' payroll is insane. And everyone was pissed when they signed the top 3 guys on the market last offseason. But contracts expired and instead of pocketing money...they put it back into the team. People complained about the Yankees getting Granderson, which baffeled me. It was a trade...they didn't get him for free...and 28 other teams could have got them. His contract isn't insane and according to some...the Yankees don't have a great farm system so other teams could have given better offers. People just come up with reasons to hate the Yankees. As a fan...it's either argue for shits and giggles, or let it be. If they win, people say, "Well you should have won, look at your payroll.". And when they lose, people say, "Hahaha, how did you not win, look at your payroll.". So I just enjoy watching them play, hope they win every single game, and hope they win the World Series so nobody can disagree that they were the best team in baseball for that year.

And don't think it's over for the Royals. Everyone can come out of nowhere and play in a World Series. Look at the Rays. 100 loses to playing in the World Series. I converse with jpero and bust his chops time and time again on how the O's will NEVER compete. But in reality...I have no idea if they really will or not. For all I know, he could be 100% right. Matusz, Bergesen and Tillman can all have really good seasons. We all know their offense is great. They could be contenders and World Series bound for the next 10+ seasons. Now I don't think that because I think the Rays were 1 in a million and while the O's may get a bunch of young talent...the Yankees and Sox can still buy other team's talent and bring up their own. And we know the Sox have a top farm system too. So while it's possible...I personally think it's doubtful.

How's that for a writeup? I'm prepping for my writeups come April 4th and beyond.

I had to delete your post because I was over the 7800 characters.