The American League Shark Tank

If you haven't been watching "Shark Tank," a new reality show on ABC, you're missing out. And apparently you're not watching, since "Shark Tank" debuted two weeks ago with less than impressive ratings.

Basically, the idea of the show is that small business owners, people with ideas for new businesses, or inventors go in front of a panel of savvy (read: ruthless) self-made millionaires and try to convince them to invest in their company or product.

The show works on so many levels. First of all, the millionaires are all putting their own money up and investing in real businesses and real people, so there isn't the "one of these idiots is going to get a million bucks" feel to it that most other reality shows have. More often than not, the sharks just belittle the small business owners and laugh at their outrageous asking prices before sending them on their way.

When a shark has heard enough of a bad sales pitch or receives a ludicrous counteroffer, they have a simple yet effective two-word phrase that works to stop a presentation dead in its tracks every time: "I'm out." No capitol to get your business off the ground, no lump sum payment for your patent, nothing. Just, "I'm out."

What's not to love about that? It's Donald Trump meets Simon Cowell, only instead of insulting someone about their karaoke skills, the sharks essentially mock most of these poor people's entire livelihood.

Trust me, it makes for great television.

Unfortunately, to this point, my life has played out more like that of the hopeless business owner foolishly demanding unreasonable amounts of money than that of a shark.

That all changes today. I had an epiphany flipping back and forth between last night's episode of "Shark Tank" and the Yankees/Red Sox game on ESPN; when it comes to betting on anyone other than the Yankees winning the American League, I'm out.

You can currently get the Red Sox at 6/1 odds to win the AL; the Tigers at 15/2; the Angels at 7/2; the Rangers at 9/1; the Rays at 14/1. I wouldn't bet on any of those teams with your money.

I don't care that the Yankees are a hideous 6/5 favorite to win the AL and a 12/5 favorite to win the World Series; if I were a betting man, I'd have already made a big bet on the men in pinstripes after watching them dismantle the Sox in Fenway this weekend.

After all, the goal of any good shark is to make as much money as possible. Even if the odds aren't exactly conducive to a huge payday, would you bet against the Yankees right now?

Not only do they have two of the top three AL MVP candidates in their lineup in Derek Jeter and Mark Teixiera, but nine different Yankees have at least 15 home runs right now. No other team in the league has more than five players with 15 home runs.

All nine of the Yankee Regulars have an OPS of over .800; the Angles have seven such players, no other team has more than five.

Quite simply, the Yankees hit the cover off the ball.

But it's not just their hitting that makes them such a force. When you spend $250 million on pitching in the offseason, you would hope not.

Indeed, the big spending on CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett has paid off for the Yankees. Led by their newly acquired initialed aces, the Yankees boast a team ERA of 4.39, under the AL league average of 4.46. While that may not be a mind-blowing stat, when you consider that the new Yankee Stadium ranks as the most hitter-friendly park in the American League in terms of home runs, it becomes that much more impressive that the Yankees staff has been above average at allowing runs.

The Yankees pitching staff also averages the most strikeouts per nine innings and has the fourth-best WHIP in the American League.

Oh yeah, and they also have the greatest closer in the history of the game, still performing at an elite level at the age of 39 in Mariano Rivera, who also happens to lead the league in saves with 36.

And as if being great in both hitting and pitching wasn't good enough, the Yankees also have the fourth highest defensive efficiency rating in the league.

Unfortunately, only the people at Baseball-Reference.com and Matt Damon from "Good Will Hunting" can explain the formula behind the defensive efficiency rating, so I can't really elaborate much further on that, but we can all agree that being in the top five in overall hitting, pitching, and defense lays a pretty good foundation for a potential World Series champion.

It's not just the overall greatness of the Yankees that has me saying "I'm out" on the rest of the American League, either. All of the other contending teams in the AL have major flaws.

The Tigers can't hit or win on the road. The Red Sox are too inconsistent and look like they peaked about four months too early. The Angels have nine players hitting over .300, but rank in the bottom third in team ERA and fielding. The Rangers and Rays both get by on their overall depth, but neither has a definitive ace at the front of their rotation that can match up with the CC's and Burnett's of the world (although Scott Feldman looks like he could be headed there for Texas), a fatal flaw in a playoff series.

With so much working in their favor right now, it looks like the only way the Yankees lose is if they beat themselves. For as impressive a regular season as this has been so far, the same Yankees that are producing right now also have a track record of not showing up in the postseason.

A-Rod's struggles in the playoffs are well documented. So are Sabathia's. A.J. Burnett has never pitched in the postseason and Joba Chamberlain has never started a playoff game.

Mark Teixiera played well in his one and only postseason appearance, but he didn't advance past the ALDS with the Angels last season. Matsui is 10 for his last 47 in the playoffs. Even Mr. November himself, Derek Jeter, is only batting .285 in his last four playoff series, a good 32 points lower than his career batting average.

That's a lot of players underachieving at once. Maybe one or two of them will continue their unremarkable postseason careers this October, but if I have to count on several different all-star caliber players to play below their potential in order for someone other than the Yankees to win the American League, I'm sorry, but I'm out.

A good shark always knows a good deal when he sees one. 6/5 odds on the Yankees to win the AL, as unimpressive as it looks on paper, is still a better deal than anything you can get on any of the other teams. I say take it.