As for your dislikes of the Yankees, yes they have the highest payroll in baseball but I love how everyone focuses just on them. No one had a problem when Boston bought their World Series title last year.
I disagree. Right now people have the same negative feelings towards Boston as they do towards the Yankees. When the Red Sox finally won a championship in '04 I think most fans were happy because they were the underdogs as well as the rivals of the long hated Yankees with a long history of failing to win a World Series while the Yankees won so many.
When the Sox won again most fans were tired of it already because they were buying championships like the Yankees. In fact, with the success of the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots most fans have had enough of that entire city, but we don't need to get into the other sports.
I agree with you that people are tired of the city of Boston constantly winning with the Celtics, Sox and Patriots. However, from where I sit, people aren't tired of the Red Sox winning. When they won the series in October all I heard about was dynasty, how great Beckett/Schilling were in October, another sweep, blah blah blah (and never once did I hear anyone bring up Boston's payroll). From my viewpoint, people are happy to see Boston win as long as it's not the Yankees (maybe it's different on the West Coast?).
Originally Posted By: Blibbleblabble
However, I believe it's fair to say that it's tough for other high payroll teams to do as well as the Yankees because New York sucks up most of the best talent while the other teams settle for what's left. Proof is in A-Rod. Why isn't he a Cub?
I disagree with you on this point because Alex was acquired through a trade. If he's signed as a free agent then sure, the Yankees just outbid everyone else. However, in trades, other teams have the opportunity to either match or beat the Yankees offer. And remember, he was almost a Red Sox before he was a Yankee. The same thing can be said about Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett, they both were trades. The Yankees could have made a play for both. They actually did for Schilling but he took Boston due to his personal vendetta with the Yankees. I never heard the Yankees name brought up in the Beckett talks which means they totally missed their opportunity with that goose.
And yes, the Yankees do suck up a lot of the best players but how many have actually worked out for them? Just look at Carl Pavano who's been injury plagued for his 4 seasons in the Bronx. Or what about Jason Giambi who, while having a great season this year, hasn't been productive since 2006 but had horrible 2004, 2005, and 2007 seasons. Not to mention Johnny Damon last year or Hideki Matsui the past two years. And yet again I bring up the question. If the other teams are "settling" for what's left in the talent pool, it certainly hasn't kept them from winning the Series because the Yankees haven't won since 2000. So what's the problem? I understand that they spend, spend, and spend. Trade away top prospects to "rent" veterans for half a season but to what end? So they can make the postseason and lose in the first round?
