Phil Seridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that the New York Yankees do harm in sports:
The New York Yankees represent the very worst of America.
Overstatement? Consider the times. Cornerstone industries are faltering, taxpayers are being asked to bail out mismanaged financial institutions and their overpaid CEOs, and decent, hard-working men and women are being laid off or worrying that they could be next.
Now consider the eight-year, $180 million contract the Yankees reportedly handed first baseman Mark Teixeira yesterday. Stack it on top of the $161 million deal signed by pitcher CC Sabathia and the (relatively) modest $82.5 million promised to A.J. Burnett and you have the most egregious display of financial irresponsibility in the history of sports.
The Yanks’ insane overspending would be bad for baseball in the best of times. These are not the best of times.
When the bullies win, well, they’re supposed to. When they lose, well, they give everyone something to laugh at.
Baseball economics always have been bad for competitive balance, but this Yankees spree is the worst ever because of real-world economics. It just smells bad. New York signed arguably the top two pitchers and the best slugger on the market. The Yanks, bidding against no other team, simply threw tens of millions of extra dollars at Sabathia.
Meanwhile, MLB’s Web site laid people off last month. Meanwhile, autoworkers are being told their plants will shut down for months. Meanwhile, the rest of us are trying to hang on to our homes and our health insurance while cutting back on holiday spending.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Teixeira. A nation turns its pockets inside out to you.
Oh, suck me sideways – seriously, Phil? Way to play to the heartstrings of the public with that last sentence. Give me a break.
Blame…Major…League…Baseball! If the league doesn’t have a cap, then you can’t blame the Yankees for spending what they want and you can’t blame Teixeira for making what he makes. I don’t care how bad the times are – if you want to change the way the Yankees do thing, then put a cap in place.
This is like crucifying a kid for pushing classmates on the playground, yet ignoring the fact that the schoolyard monitor is off having a smoke break. If there aren’t any rules in place to slow down the Yankees spending, then why should they stop? Because other teams can’t spend as much? Why should the Yankees monitor themselves when the league doesn’t care enough to do it themselves? Put a cap in place and then we can talk about how the Yankees are the most evil things since that freaky red-haired kid from “Children of the Corn”.
