Why the New York Yankees Are Bad for Baseball

Congratulations to the New York Yankees on their purchase of another championship. This trophy was acquired for the bargain price of $200 million dollars. Of course, Yankee fans will proclaim that other fans are just jealous, and they are probably right. I mean, who wouldn't be jealous of a team that has never in their history been on a level playing field with the rest of the league? Being a fan of the New York Yankees appears to be pretty easy. Granted, rooting for the Yankees is akin to rooting for the Wall Street corporation that stomps the long-time Mom and Pop business into oblivion so that they can put up their latest outlet store.

Building blocks

Admittedly, the Yankees have made good use of the farm system and they have utilized their minor league affiliates such as the Kansas City Royals, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Florida Marlins. Now, to be fair, the Bronx Bombers do have some in-house players that actually came up through their own system. However, the Yankees do not face that yearly dilemma that is faced by many of the other teams in the league. There is no doubt that the Yankees will re-sign their stars. In addition, they just have to wait for everyone else's stars to become available so that they can break out their giant checkbook.

Shared responsibility

Unfortunately, the owners and the players have not helped in the process. Many of the owners are content to sit back and enjoy revenue sharing while putting terrible teams on the field. It is true that some teams could spend a bit more but really do not try. In addition, the players around the league enjoy the trickle-down effect caused by the latest Yankee free agent signing that adjusts the market to a new and more ridiculous high. Players may say that they want to win, but some seem to grasp that they are getting paid millions to play a kid's game and winning doesn't really matter that much.

Willingness to change

Many fans are not naive to the fact that baseball is a business and that things are not likely to change as long as a select group of people are making large quantities of money. The "integrity" of the game is a nice sentimental thought, but many owners and players care about their paychecks. Period. Of course, baseball has to be careful with how they conduct themselves in the future. Baseball may be America's pastime, but outdated rules, countless empire errors, and a stubborn refusal to change how the game is played may eventually doom baseball. Football currently has more upside than baseball, and the next generation may completely leave baseball behind.

American values

Perhaps this is a bit over-dramatic, but in many ways the Yankees represent all that is wrong with capitalism in America. To be sure, the Yankees have the history, the nostalgia, the grandeur of New York, and a sort of unofficial patriotism that follows the team. However, the team and more specifically their owner George Steinbrenner represent greed and selfishness. Leave Alex Rodriguez in Seattle, Mark Teixeira in Texas, A.J. Burnett in Florida, and C.C. Sabathia in Cleveland and see how well the Yankees do then. The Yankees do not care if they win a fair fight. That is why their championship, and the many that have come before are hollow. The Yankees do not win the right way, but instead continue to do it "their way." Wait, isn't that a song?