In a recent article on ESPN.com, Peter Gammons reopened an old
argument. The post, titled, "The Rich Get Richer," argued that the
wealth gap in Major League Baseball is destroying fair competition,
leaving only the wealthiest teams in the hunt. But like many other
followers of baseball, Gammons makes the common error of thinking that
money leads inherently to success, and he downplays the importance of
good baseball sense. The best teams do far more than just spend money.
In the recent past, nowhere has the debate over the importance of money in baseball been more heated than in Gotham. If you're a Yankee fan, how often have you been accused of rooting for a team that "buys championships," especially in the mid- to late-'90s? As far back as most fans can remember, the Yankees have been the highest paid team in baseball, but they owe their success to more than just their budget.
Let's examine the 1998 Yankee team, one of the greatest teams in baseball history. Many of the players were paid exorbitant amounts of money, but their 114 wins were the result of smart drafting and trading, not money. Several key players came up through the Yankees system (Jeter, Posada, Rivera and Bernie Williams), while others were acquired in trades (Brosius, Knoblauch and Tino Martinez). Few players on that team were acquired as free agents. How, then, can the Yankees be accused of buying the title? The Yankees won 114 games that year because the organization knew how to recognize talent, not buy it.
Having money certainly helps a team in many ways. For one, it prevents mistakes from being crippling. The Yankees signed Kei Igawa to a substantial contract, and Igawa simply couldn't pitch in the United States. On a low budget team, such a mistake would be paralyzing. The team wouldn't be able to move on until they could dump that salary. The Yankees simply brush that mistake away without a second thought about money. Furthermore, as Gammons mentions, when a big name free agent is on the market (as CC Sabathia will be next year), only the big market teams will be in the running. Yes, the Yankees can sign free agents, but a good team cannot rely on that. The Yankees are building a new future, and they are doing it through their own system.
There is a new generation brewing in the Bronx. Just as they did in the 1990s, the Yankees are building on homegrown talent. In addition to Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera, the Yanks have arguably the three best young pitchers in the game in Hughes, Chamberlain and Kennedy. They also have highly-coveted prospects in the minors. The Yankees organization didn't get these stud players with money.
Of course, the Yankees have also made some major free agent acquisitions, most notably resigning Alex Rodriguez this offseason. A-Rod is the highest paid player in baseball and few teams could afford him. But after opting out of his contract, A-Rod found the Yankees unwilling to pursue him, until he came crawling back to them like an infant to its mother. He didn't play the free agent market for every penny it was worth, and he even negotiated with the Yankees without Scott Boras in the room. If it were about money, none of these events would have happened. But A-Rod swallowed his pride and returned to the Bronx, and all indications are that he would have signed for less than his market value. It was Yankee loyalty that drove him back to the Yankees, not money. No team does a better job fostering player loyalty than the Yankees. Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera were free agents this year, but didn't even consider playing for other teams. They signed back on with the Bombers without talking to other teams. The Yankees gave them more money than anyone else probably would, but Jorge and Mo didn't even try to drive up their own price.
Once again, Yankee loyalty.
The work of George Steinbrenner and his employees makes the Yankees what they are. Love him or hate him, King George knows how to run a baseball team. And a smaller budget would only be a small hindrance to him. Doubt me? Then explain why the White Sox, the fourth highest paid team in 2007, lost 90 games, while the Indians, who spent under $62 million, won their division and beat the Yankees in the ALDS. The answer: the Indians run their team intelligently; the White Sox do not. And let's not forget that the team that first signed A-Rod for $250 million, the Texas Rangers, had money but no baseball sense. The year they signed him, they finished in fourth place, because they needed pitching, not hitting. Money's no good if you don't know how to spend it.
When the next generation of Yankee youngsters grows up, they may be a new dynasty, or at the very least be the team to beat in the American League. When that happens, they'll likely be accused of "buying championships" once again. But they are a team built on baseball smarts and loyalty, not dollars and cents.
In a recent article on ESPN.com, Peter Gammons reopened an old
argument. The post, titled, "The Rich Get Richer," argued that the
wealth gap in Major League Baseball is destroying fair competition,
leaving only the wealthiest teams in the hunt. But like many other
followers of baseball, Gammons makes the common error of thinking that
money leads inherently to success, and he downplays the importance of
good baseball sense. The best teams do far more than just spend money.
