The Yankees are losing right now. The Yankees may not win this series - but do not let that fool you. There is absolutely no parity in the MLB. The Commissioner's Office will tell you about seven different champions in the last eight years, none of them the big spending Yankees. They will tell you about revenue sharing and blah blah blah.
Bunk.
Humbug.
Horsesh...!
There is no parity in the MLB especially not in the American League
Let's examine shall we?
Lets look at playoff appearances since 2001. The more I think about it, the more I feel that it has done way more harm than good.
Playoff Appearances/ ALCS Appearances/ World Series Appearances
East Yankees 8/3/3 Boston 6/4/2 Tampa Bay 1/1/1 Baltimore 0/0/0 Toronto 0/0/0
Central Minn. 5/1/0 Cleveland 2/1/0 Chicago 2/1/1 Detroit 1/1/1 KC 0/0/0
West Angels 6/3/1 Oakland 4/1/0 Seattle 0/0/0 Rangers 0/0/0
Does that look like parity?
Of Course it all comes down to money. The Yankees have it and spend it like the world is going to end soon. Now, this is not a rant about the Yankees being the number one payroll. I mean, it is, but it's not like that. The Yankees should have the number one payroll.
The problem is not their rank, it is their separation.
Put one way:
The top two payrolls in baseball are the Yankees and Mets. That makes total sense. These two teams share the largest media market in the US and one of the largest and most lucrative in the world. It should be no surprise that these two teams lead baseball.
The difference between the number one and two payrolls in MLB is, roughly, $66 million.
To put that into context: If you go $66 million down the payroll chart from number two you go all the way to number 22, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Let me say this again. The difference between the Yankees and Mets is similar in number to the difference between the Mets and D'Backs.
That is how far and away above the rest of baseball the Yankees exist. That is a problem.
Now, I don't fault the Yankees. They haven't broken any rules, they have exploited the current system to the best of their abilities. I don't doubt that any other team in the Yankees' position would do something similar, but the fact that one team could have this much control over the rest of the league is disturbing.
There is no incentive right now for the Yankees to spend anytime on player development. Why should they? With their resources the rest of baseball is their minor league system. Look at what they did this past offseason - look at the dollar amount they committed to the players they got. It is insane, there is no way any team could realistically compete with that.
Again, it is not the fact that they pay the most, it is the fact that the most is so far and away more than any other team could possibly hope to compete with.
Who has the Yankee farm system produced since 1995? Who have they produced that you can look at and say - they were a significant piece to their dominance. Robinson Cano, Joba Chaimberlain, Phil Hughes? Really?
Hughes and Joba are struggling prospects just barely holding on to spots on the roster now. Cano is good, but would you call him significant. Face it, the Yankees are their checkbook. A-Rod, Matsui, Clemens, Tex, Damon, Swisher, Burnett.
All the Yankees need to do is sit back and relax and wait - wait for the free agents to come. No one will outbid the Yankees for someone they want badly enough, and the fact that there seems to be no real restrictions on their abilities to do such a thing is a problem for every other team. Right now the Orioles, Rays, Twins, A's, Royals fans of the world are wondering - when will my young star that came up through my system become a Yankee?
And this system has negative economic effects for all teams. As the big spenders have paid more and more for increasingly marginal talent (I am looking at you Detroit) it has driven up the prices for even mediocre players. Does Derek Lowe really deserve the money he got? No, not really, but in today's climate of inflated prices that is what teams must pay. This is a problem for lesser-market teams.
These teams end up taking on extreme amounts of risk. If their veteran starter flames out - they are screwed. This is true for almost any team really, but not the Yankees. And again, this is not because they are the richest - it is the scale of their riches.
Take a look at Carl Pavano. $39.95 million over four years, nearly $10 million a year for a pitcher. For comparison, Roy Halladay makes $13 million a year. Now, Pavano was a giant bust, but it did not faze the Yankee International Baseball Conglomerate. Any other team that took that risk and had a pitcher like that bust would be in a world of hurt. Just ask the Tigers how D-Train is working out. There is a team that has tried to play Yankee ball and iis having a perfect storm of things go wrong. Yes, they almost made the playoffs, but almost none of their big-ticket investments have panned out and they have been riding the arm of Justin Verlander. He'll be a free agent in a few years - how much will he cost?
How much will the Yankees offer Albert Pujols when he becomes a free agent?
If you don't think that the Yankees would do it - just watch. They have the resources and nothing is stopping them.
They might lose this series, they just lost game 1, imagine what they will do this offseason if they do.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
James, you’ve left a few of the home grown yankee’s out.
Including the latter:
Jeter
Rivera
Pettitte
Cabrera
Soriano
Posada
Gardner
Also, the Mariners won their Division in 2001 (if it matters).
Anyway, I agree with the point of your post. But the Orioles had their chance over a decade ago unil the Front Office went belly up. They had the stadium, they had the market and they blew it. But we’re not here to talk about the past (lol!).
With the direction the O’s are going into now, we’re no doubt gonna see an improvement. But realisticly, it’s gonna probably take a decade to get this club to become a true, consistent contender in the AL east. To say it’ll happen in ‘11 or ‘12, in my opinion, is the fast track plan. I don’t have my heart set on it. My brain tells me that ‘11 or ‘12 will be the start of respectability with the path we’re going on. Pretty much what we’ll see happen is a race between the Red Sox and Yankees and a battle for 3rd place between the O’s, Rays, and Jays. And I’m almost certain that the O’s will over take the Jays, depending on how this offseason goes.
Excuse me, I’m almost certain the O’s will overtake the Jay’s in ‘10, depending on how this offseason goes.
For the first time, I want the Yankees to win the series only because Jerry Hairston Jr. is a member of their team. That would be a funny F-U to the Orioles’ management.
That’s stupid.
DAve, SINCE 1995 when half of those guys on the list came up. Soriano cam
So, since 1995 it has been Cano, Chaimberlain, Gardner, Hughes, Soriano.
Soriano was 1999. And he doesn’t count because he did not “come through the system”. his rights were bought from the Japanese team that controlled him while he was in high School in the DR. He wasn’t grown he was bought.
So, since the 1995 season (where Jeter, Posada, Rivera and Pettite come up) The Yankees’ system has contributed to the ML talent pool with:
A solid 2B
two part-time outfielders that might be viable starters on other teams
And two pitchers that are currently struggling to keep permanent spots on the team.
These guys are parts of the team, sure. But they are not essential. Outside of Cano any other of those guys could be easily replaced.
James,
Soriano spent 2 seasons in Japan’s dominican baseball academy. He only played 7 games with a Japanese farm team. He signed with the Yankee’s in ‘98, went through their farm system from bottom to top, making his debut in a ‘99 cup of coffee. He spent most of ‘00 in Triple-A, then in ‘01 replaced Chuck Knoblauch at 2B.