There has been a lot of talk about how the Yankees are bad for baseball and owners want salary caps. Would there be this talk if the poverty-stricken Angels or Red Sox signed Mark Teixeira? Of course not. There's a double standard here. The Yankees are breaking no rules, and as they've proven year after year, money doesn't always solve everything. That's why they play the games. Having the highest payroll in the sport hasn't brought them the elusive 27th World Series championship.
Let's look at the 2007 Red Sox with their 25-man roster opening day payroll of $143,026,214 (according to Cot's Baseball Contracts).
Here are some of the players they acquired:
Jason Varitek
Mike Lowell
Julio Lugo
Manny Ramirez
Coco Crisp
J.D. Drew
David Ortiz
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Tim Wakefield
Josh Beckett
Curt Schilling
Julian Tavarez
Hideki Okajima
Mike Timlin
This is the game today, and you have to spend money to compete. The Yankees are paying the luxury tax levied on them and are sharing its revenue. It shouldn't be the Yankees' fault that the Pirates are pocketing the money they get.
If a team is so mad about the Yankees spending money, they should listen to Giuseppe Franco and "do somethin' about it." Complaining and whining isn't going to get anything done.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Buying a championship?
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7 comments:
This is going to get messy.
Check out my article in The Times on this very subject.
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/loving-the-yankees-means-always-having-to-say-youre-sorry/
We must hold our heads high!
I agree. The Yanks have the money to spend so they should be able to spend it any way they want. Its not their fault everyone buys Yankee gear. I see nothing wrong with the Tex move, the Angels and Red Sox had their shot and blew it.
Joe says....
Let me get this straight. They Yankees are way too greedy for signing these expensive players. But, if they signed minor leaguers instead and pocketed the money--would that be less greedy? NO! It would be greedier to pocket the money and not spend it. All these teams indirectly make a profit from the Yankees from revenue sharing. I say if these socialistic owners want a salary cap for payroll, let's put a salary cap on their personal profits. How much is attendance going to improve when we bring our team to these ballparks around the country? Yeah, the Padres owner won't spend money to compete because he wants to keep it, but WE are greedy? I hope we wipe the field with their tears.
Shortsighted Yankees Fans:
Let the Yankees use the money and pay for their own stadium, instead of inflated contracts for knuckleheads to play baseball. I resent my tax dollars going to pay for a new stadium that will cost me a months rent to attend.
I hope you "homers" remember how good you feel now when these bums breakdown in the second or third year of their long-term contracts and you're stuck with them for another five years. You'll want them to be run out of town. Giving them so many years and such high dollars removes any incentive for them to work hard in the future.
So, which one is it? The Yankees are BUYING a championship or are they filling their roster with bums who can't win because they have no incentive? Can't have it both ways. Must be hard to come up with legitimate reasons for childish hatred, huh? As for the stadium mess, you get the government you deserve. If you don't have the votes to kick them out--move away. Your neighbors must like your government...they keep voting for them. Big city politics....Chicago, Detroit, NY and NJ....you guys never learn. Tax and spend creates corruption.
Having a team of stars will help pay for the Stadium. After having a year like last year, it's impossible to not try and upgrade the product. It's a business, and having a team that's spending all of this money to make money is good for the game economically.
With what the Yankees are charging, the new stadium will probably pay for itself this year.
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