Yanks Look Like AL East Champs

Looking up and down the lineup of the New York Yankees reads like an all-star team yet again. It goes Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, and possibly Bubba Crosby. It's impossible to tell what the regular starting lineup is going to be come late March, but you can be pretty confident that it will look something like that.

I'm not saying that just because the Yanks got Johnny Damon that now they're unstoppable — far from it, in fact, because Damon isn't the savior of baseball. He just now completes a lineup that was looking for that one last piece to fill it out. Now, like previous years, the rest of the American League East can just hang 'em up and call it a season — there's no point in trying now. Now combine with that lineup a pitching staff that has the potential to win every game they pitch, a now decent middle relief, and the best closer the game has ever seen, and the rest of the teams in the AL East should be trembling in their Sox.

There's no saying that the rest of the American League should be worried because if the staff in the South Side of Chicago pitches the way they did last season, then there's no reason to think that they won't be one of the top contenders to repeat, but the Yankees will be right there nipping at their heels.

Their pitching staff is a little suspect, but if Randy Johnson, Shawn Chacon, and Chien-Ming Wang pitch the way they did at the end of last season, and throw in there Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina pitching decent seasons, and right there you've got another 100-win season. The Yanks have plenty of hitting to swipe the AL East Crown away from any would-be throne stealers, and then they have the pitching experience to take them to a next level they haven't seen since my cousin was born (she's very young).

Now comes the time when everyone chimes in with their, "Steinbrenner's killing baseball," and, "The Yankees just buy their championships." No, George Steinbrenner is not killing baseball, and the Yankees are not going to just buy another championship. Was George Steinbrenner the one that originally signed Alex Rodriguez to a 10-year, $252 million contract? No, that award goes to the Texas Rangers, the owners of which actually only paid $250 million when they bought that team. What about Barry Bonds' approximate $22 million a year? That one goes to the San Francisco Giants. Then you have Manny Ramirez, who is still owed $57 million over the next three years, making it very difficult to trade the outfielder, who is with the innocent Boston Red Sox.

Sure, Steinbrenner pays out much more than every other team, but the reason for that is that the Yankees have the money to spend and they decide to spend it. Yankees fans pay top dollar for tickets at the Stadium, and up until recently, the Yankees were the biggest draw outside of the Bronx, as well. George Steinbrenner runs his team like a money-making business, and he pays hefty luxury taxes to do it.

The idea that the Yankees buy their championships and are an "Evil Empire" is just absolutely ludicrous. The Yankees have not won a World Series since the year 2000, thus making the near $1 billion that has been spent on the team worthless if money buys titles.

On the same note, look at the 2005 team salaries of the World Series winners since the Yankees last won. Those teams are the Arizona Diamondbacks, Anaheim Angels, Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox. Their team salaries this past year are as follows: $62,329,166, $97,725,322, $60,408,834, $123,505,125, and $75,178,000, respectively. When was the last time that you saw a World Series champion that didn't spend good money on their team? You're not going to see a team that has a payroll of the Royals winning it because they just don't have what it takes. It is necessary to spend money in baseball if you want to succeed.

The 2005 playoff teams were almost all in the top half of the league in terms of baseball salaries, with the San Diego Padres coming in at number 16 (they shouldn't even count since they were barely over .500). Now look at the teams that were in the top 10 in payroll and see how they did:

1. Yankees — $208,306,817 — Lost 3-1 in the playoffs to the Angels
2. Red Sox — $123,505,125 — Lost 3-0 in the playoffs to the White Sox
3. Mets — $101,305,821 — Finished 83-79, missed the playoffs
4. Angels — $97,725,322 — Lost 4-1 in the ALCS to the White Sox
5. Phillies — $95,522,000 — Finished 88-74, missed the playoffs
6. Cardinals — $92,106,833 — Lost 4-2 in the NLCS to the Astros
7. Giants — $90,199,500 — Finished 75-87, missed the playoffs
8. Mariners — $87,754,334 — Finished 69-93, missed the playoffs
9. Cubs — $87,032,933 — Finished 79-83, missed the playoffs
10. Braves — $86,457,302 — Lost 3-1 in the playoffs to the Astros

If the idea that money buys championships really holds true, then how come none of the teams listed above even sniffed the World Series, let alone came close to winning it? The reason is that spending a lot of money doesn't guarantee anything. Anyone that has watched baseball in the past few years would be able to tell you that.

No matter what anyone says, people will always whine and complain that the Yankees buy their championships if they win, and if they lose, then people will say that they poorly spent their money. Like them or not, the Yankees are a very well-run business, and the fans appreciate that by actually attending the games. The fact is, the Yankees try every year to put the best team possible on the field, and that is why they are almost always one of the best teams in the league. Fans and media of other teams need to just stop complaining about what the Yankees do, and start focusing on what they can do to support their own teams and make them better.

Notes

* Joe Paterno has been awarded with the AP Coach of the Year Award. No other coach this season deserved this award more than JoePa, and he should be congratulated left and right for what he's done amidst what seems like infinite pressure to quit from people saying that he was washed up.

* After recently losing in the second-best rivalry in college basketball, Louisville yet again struggled, winning by only eight over Middle Tennessee State. Could it be that Kentucky basketball is only a fraction of what it was just a couple years ago?