A Word About Big League Payrolls

The New York Yankees. The Evil Empire. The Boss and his Cash.

They're the American team that America has come to hate. You don't even have to be in Boston anymore to sense the deep-seated hate for the Bronx Bombers that seems to cloak every non-Yankee fan across the country.

And it's because the Yankees are the big spenders.

The Yankees' payroll boasts figures that almost seem futuristic, especially when viewed alongside those of teams like the Minnesota Twins, who spent a whopping $56.9 million on their 2008 squad. And with the Yankees reeling in this winter's biggest free agents with nine-figure carrot and sticks, America's collective baseball blood pressure is sure to rise with every win the Yankees put up this season.

I'd like to offer a different perspective. 

Why not think of teams like the Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, and Twins as the Davids to the Goliath lurking in the Bronx?  

Look. America is obsessed with, even built upon, underdog stories. Think about it. The Revolutionary War. Barack Obama. The movie "Rudy."

Without teams like the Yankees, and today's Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, the Rays would not have been the incredible story they were this past year. People wouldn't rave about the Rays turnaround if they couldn't be compared to the Yankees.

The fans who packed into the Trop, along with most of the country, rooted for the Rays as they powered through the regular season and the playoffs. And the reason people loved the Rays was not because of what they accomplished in 2008, but because of how they accomplished it.

The Rays wallowed in the doldrums for years, consistently finishing in the American League East cellar while the high-rolling Yankees and Red Sox stuck around every October. But the Rays waited for their turn. They never spent money. They never grabbed too many headlines. They waited.

They got top draft picks. They built their farm system and Major League club on a new baseball philosophy. And in 2008, they did make headlines. And the headlines emerged thanks to fundamentally-sound, hustle baseball—winning baseball. With a payroll slightly under $44 million, the Rays finished eight games ahead of the Yankees, who spent over $209 million.

For you hip-hop fans out there, it was like seeing your favorite local MC destroy T.I. or Kanye West in a freestyle battle.  

And, as baseball fans, we should be thanking these high-rollers for helping create these breathtaking baseball stories. As it stands, the Rays won't need to part with too many pennies to be scary good for years to come. The Twins and Marlins compete yearly for their respective division titles. And would anyone even know the name Billy Beane if he wasn't working with the microscopic budget he's had for the past decade? 

Maybe the C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira will bring a 27th ring to New York. But they will face plenty of obstacles along the way, many of them in the shape of low-budget payrolls and no-name hustle players.

Because, when it comes down to it, wouldn't you have left the theater if Rudy was some trust-fund kid with years of private training?