Stop Blaming the Yankees

The morning after the New York Yankees won their 27th World Series championship, I was bombarded with complaint after complaint about how the Yankees bought their victories over the Phillies.

I've never quite understood this logic. Did they spend more than they were allowed? Did they circumvent the rules blocking other teams from signing free agents? The answer is no, but you wouldn't know it from browsing message boards and forum discussions.

One writer said the Yankees "destroyed baseball." How so? Is what the Yankees are doing any different than what Toronto did in 1993 when it won the World Series and had the highest payroll in the league?

Instead of tearing down the Yankees, let's complain about the kind of system that allows the Yankees to do what they're doing. Let's rant and rave about how a capless system allows the sort of economic inequity that's developed between coastal cities and Midwestern towns.

For example, the left side of the Yankees infield made $52 million this season. That's more than Pittsburgh spent on their entire roster. And San Diego. And Florida.

So you're not frustrated with the system as much as you are of the Yankees dynasty. Don't give me that. Dynasties are just as prevalent, if not more so, in other sports. Since 2000, New York has won two World Series championships. In that same time span, the New England Patriots have won three Lombardi trophies, the Pittsburgh Steelers have won two, the Lakers have won four NBA titles, the San Antonio Spurs have won three, and the New Jersey Devils have hoisted the Stanley Cup twice.

New York has had deep pockets since they started, but it hasn't always won championships. In fact, between 1982 and 1995, the Yankees didn't even win their division, much less a pennant.

If bigger spending results in winning championships, how could the Mets outspend the Marlins by $103 million and finish 17 games behind them? Or how could the Tigers outspend the Twins by $62 million and finish a game behind? The Mets had a 2009 payroll of over $149 million and had the third-worst record (70-92) in the NL. Colorado spent less than half of what the Mets did and made the postseason. So did St. Louis. And Minnesota.

To say that the Yankees are winning this much because of money trees that only seem to grow in New York is ignorant and insensitive to the scouts who pour over film and stat books, general managers who assemble these teams and the coaches that develop them. Do the Yankees have deeper pockets? Yes, absolutely. But of the 15 teams in the bottom half of spending, seven finished above .500. And of the 15 teams in the top half of spending, nine finished above .500.