Money Doesn't Buy Rings: The Yanks Are Just Better

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As a Yankee fan, I'm used to people hating on the Yankees.

I get it.

People hate winners and want to blame winners for their own team's misery.

I know a guy on Facebook that I have thought about deleting because every time I bring up the Yanks, he gripes about how MLB is broken.

Whining is whining. It's annoying when a three-year-old does it because he perceives something isn't fair and it's annoying when a grown man does it about baseball.

This happens all the time. When a team loses a game, if you listen to their fans, they didn't lose—the ref made a bad call that cost them the game, or the other team cheated.

The current Yankees are no exception. Radio air heads, T.V. prognosticators, and Internet gurus are all moaning and complaining.

One guy even went so far as to list the salary of all the teams. I have included part of his little chart below:

1. New York Yankees         $201,449,289    
2. New York Mets                $135,773,988 
3. Chicago Cubs                  $135,050,000 
4. Boston Red Sox              $122,696,000   
5. Detroit Tigers                   $115,085,145   
6. Los Angeles Angels        $113,709,000  
7. Philadelphia Phillies           $113,004,048 
8. Houston Astros                $102,996,415  
9. Los Angeles Dodgers      $100,458,101  
10. Seattle Mariners              $98,904,167   

Now, if you are a Yankee-hater, you seem to have something to start screaming about. And, that is without the rest of the teams.  I left them off on purpose because I just want to focus on the top 10. The idea of a salary cap "fixing anything" is flawed. There's a reason the Cleveland Browns are terrible and the Steelers are perennially good.

Here's my question: If money buys you championships, why didn't the Mets, Cubs, Tigers, Astros, or Mariners make the play offs? In fact, two of the top three and five of the top 10 didn't make it.

They didn't even sniff at it. Force players to take less money, and the Yankees will still win. If you had to choose between the Yankees, and the Marlins or the Pirates, which team would you choose? You're going to go with the team that has the track record.

Would you want to go to a team that spends less on payroll than it receives in luxury tax money? I wouldn't either.

The reality is that there are a lot of MLB teams that are run poorly.  If you want to hate the Yankees to validate the misery of your own team, so be it.  But, at least be honest about it. It's not about the money. It's about the Yankees having something your team doesn't.

Rings.

I get your anger and I get your fear. The Yankees have done some good things in the draft and are set to be good for a long time. Your team probably is not. That is okay, you'll find a way to make it. Just be honest with yourself.

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