The Yankees 09 payroll is smaller than 08, they paid more in luxury tax last year than the Marlins entire payroll. Which, to me, means that the Marlins are just as culpable for not spending as the Yankees may be for over spending.

I think its good for baseball overall, that the Yankees are the Yankees, just as its good for football that the Cowboys are the Cowboys etc etc.

It is an odd thing in sports that people wish to limit how much a person can earn, they are in the entertainment business, we cant forget that, so they are paid exorbitantly as all entertainers are.

There is plenty of parity in baseball, one need look no further than the winners of the world series this decade. The Padres have been competitive, as have the Rockies, as have the Phillies, Marlins, Mets, Dbacks, A’s, Brewers, Tigers and so on.

If youre going to blame NY for spending, you can blame many owners for not spending….The players are gonna get paid regardless, at least the Steins arent pocketing all their revenue, they put it back into the field.

This argument is nothing short of pure Yankee hating; this huge spending wont even result in a title this year, I think Mr. Sheridan is overreacting and trying to fill up column space on Christmas Eve

but living in Philly, Sheridan’s articles are usually skipable due to the absence of sound reason invovled.

Linkage

Are the Yankees bad for baseball?
I think it’s more a problem of perception than reality. This is a year the Yankees had $88 million coming off the payroll. They’re going to add Andy Pettitte or someone else for $10 million to be their No. 5 starter. It just looks bad, especially in this economy, but when you break it down it’s business as usual for the Yankees.
It’s a good thing for baseball if the Yankees have to play the Darth Vader of baseball. It’s good for the sport to have that real goliath out there that everybody wants to knock out. In 2006 they had five of the nine highest-paid players on the same team and they got knocked out in the first round by the Tigers. It’s easy for everybody to hate them in terms of what they have in resources, but it puts enormous pressure on those players. They’re the only team that reports to spring training with the mandate of getting to the World Series. There’s enormous pressure and it can be a joyless ride when it’s World Series or bust. The newer players will have to live with that. Their profile says they should be OK with that kind of pressure but the fact is there are going to be those expectations.

I wonder if these signings have any implications for Girardi’s long term status as the Yankee’s skipper? I’ll be curious to see how he’ll manage with even more highly paid superstars and egos on the club. If they don’t get off to a good start, could we see Joe get the boot?

after all they are a business that has received their revenue like any other team could (well, you get the idea). What I DONT like is that teams are giving away inflated contracts to players that are not as good as their contract would live up to. Personally, I think Tex is NOT that good. He’s a great bat to have in the lineup but costs way to much. When Pujols’s contract expires, no clue how much he is going to earn..

Otherwise I do not care how much the yankees spend. The Yankees must believe that their revenues and/or the owner’s bankroll will support this level of spending. I have not bothered to read the Sheridan article so I cannot comment on it.

In general, supply and demand has the greatest influence on salaries and wages. For whatever reason there was little complaint when the union autoworkers made money working on ridiculously priced and arguably unnecessary SUVs, but there was a demand for those stupid vehicles not too long ago when gas was cheap AND when this entire country supported a policy of free money for everyone via B.S. loan and re-finance fraud. Now I see that American automakers have figured out something that the real estate industry figured out a year ago—not only can most people not afford inflated prices built up by speculation and loan fraud for their homes, but they also cannot afford 35-50 grand for a B.S. gas guzzling, polluting tank.

The team that spends the most money doesn’t always win, just like the auto company that pays the highest wages and benefits to its workers does NOT make the best vehicles (or even sell the most anymore). The Yankees may have paid a ridiculous amount of money to ensure a 3rd place finish in their own division, at the same time they will pay more in tax and the owners in KC and Pittsburgh will likely bank that cash.

Whenever I read a moron say “Baseball players make 10 million teachers only make 50,000 argument” I want to kick them in the balls.

There is no connection. Teachers sometimes are underpaid yes. (IN the suburbs they are overpaid cities underpaid) but it has no connection to how much baseball players made. If anything the taxes they pay help pay teacher’s salaries.

It’s simply the law of supply and demand. A lot more people can teach than can hit a baseball 400 feet.

Aramis Ramirez can give up baseball and go to school and become a teacher.

A teacher can not give up teaching become a baseball player and hit 30 homeruns.

…hate the Yankees or as I call them, the evil empire, in reference to Ronald Reagan’s use of the team regarding the then USSR, they are playing within the confines of the current rules set.

What I’d like to see the next time the labor-related “stuff” hits the fan, is at least call it what it is: Small market owners vs Big market owners. It’s not players vs owners.