A New Look for the Yankees
I want to accurately inform you, if you are taking the time to read this, of the latest happenings with the New York Yankees. If you don’t care about baseball, feel free to stop reading now. However, if you are in the other 98% of the U.S. that hate the Yankees then you owe it to yourself to be informed of the real facts.
The Yankees have been very productive this off-season by signing Teixeira, Sabathia, Burnett, and Swisher. Now, this creates them the team that they need to compete in their division. People are eager to point out that the Yankees now have the four highest paid players in all of baseball. Which, I’ll admit, may look very bad. I have already been harassed relentlessly about this and how the Yankees are trying to “buy the championship” again. However, please read this article to see the entire story. I add a few highlights below that accurately paint the picture. This is a brilliant staffing move, and I will argue that any fan would be excited about if it were their team. And, as I’ve always argued, the Yankees are good for baseball. Would you rather have an owner that puts money back into his team to invest in the game itself, or an owner who takes as much profit as he can without putting it back into his team? We need more teams like the Yankees.
“Don’t forget that the Yankees this winter shed from the payroll high-salary guys like Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Bobby Abreu, Andy Pettitte (likely to return but at a lower base salary), and Carl Pavano. Add it all up, and they’ve sloughed off almost $80 million. Once the full details on Teixeira’s deal are known, it’s likely that his 2008 salary along with the annual salaries of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Nick Swisher will amount to between $70-75 million. Even the liberal-arts majors among us can figure out that’s not an increase.”
“But the Yankees can’t be blamed for baseball’s structural inequities. The Steinbrenners’ obligations are to win games and make money. That Major League Baseball provides them so much latitude to do so is the fault of MLB, not the Yankees.”
This is the personal blog of Jeremy Jernigan. Husband, father, teaching pastor, and student of truth.
Dude, you are throwing around numbers that equal the entire payrolls of most teams, and trying to make them sound low. The Yankees are who they are, there is no point trying to justify their extravagance… just enjoy it if you are a fan and make fun of it mercilessly if you aren’t!
And the whole “The Yankess can’t be blamed for baseball’s structural inequities” arguement reeks of the “don’t hate the playa, hate the game” vibe. It doesn’t matter if the game sucks or not, if you are with four women at the same time, you are still a womanizing jerk. I mean, seriously, leave some for the rest of us (quality free agents in the Yankee’s case).
Your fanhood is rather impressive, though. I will give you major props for that.
Richard, think of it this way. Would the league be better or worse if all the teams spent like the Yankees? Would the league be better or worse if all teams spent like the Florida Marlins? You can’t fault the Yankees for spending money on their product. The real question should be why these other billionaire owners won’t do the same for their teams.
For any one to admit they like the New York Yankees causes me to question them being a baseball, even a sports, fan. And then, to take the time to admit you actually spent precious moments of a beautiful day to conjur up an excuse for the awful behaviour of a few owners who spend money like we all have it just makes me worry about the downfall of the American society. It is right up there with the blue tooth, the designated hitter, interleague play and women on the sidelines at sporting events. We have seen the enemy and it is…..a Steinbrenner
I’m going to have to agree with Jeremy. The Yankees are good for baseball, if for nothing more than someone to hate. I understand why Jeremy likes the Yanks, it’s the same reason any of us like anything else, but the Yankees are good for baseball. It isn’t nearly on as grand a scheme, but the Angels have been more and more competitive since they opened up their payroll. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. Look at the Brewers who took a leap on CC last season and they made a playoff run for the first time in 25 years.
Z