The Best Team Money Can Buy

A lot of people look down on the Yankees for spending so much money on their players. They argue that the MLB having no salary cap gives NY an unfair advantage. While that may be a valid point, it’s not the Yankees’ fault that they have the most money. What they are doing is not against the rules in any way so more power to them. In fact they are doing what other franchises should do. If a prestigious franchise experiences a drop off in wins, then management should do whatever it takes to give the fans the caliber of play that they expect.
That is not an easy thing to do in New York because over the years Yankee fans have become accustomed to an extremely high level of play. It’s easy to see why the fans would get spoiled. The Yankees managed to win four World Series titles from 1996 to 2000. None of these championship were filled with superstars. On their 1998 squad that one the World Series convincingly, no one on the team hit over thirty home runs. They just had solid pitching that was backed up by a balanced attack from the lead-off position all the way down to the nine hole
In 01 and 03 the Yanks won the AL pennant, but lost in the World Series. Not only were they no longer winning championships, but their bitter rivals, Boston, surpassed them as the class of the American League. Most franchises would be satisfied with just making the postseason, but George Steinbrenner doesn‘t operate like that. He proceeded to essentially clean house and bring in a new crop of guys. I commend him for taking action when he did. Steinbrenner recognized that the old way was no longer working so he decided to go with the opposite approach. Load up with big names. The Yankees have been bringing in superstars slowly, but surely over the past six years. Some have stuck around and some have faded away. After years of experimenting I think the Yanks have finally gotten a perfect mix. They are down right beastly and there is nothing anyone can do to stop them. Joe Girardi is doing a great job of managing egos. Derek Jeter is the glue as usual. Texierra is owning every pitcher that steps to the mound. A-Rod is finally playing to his ability in October. C.C. Sabbathia is leading a deep starting pitching rotation. Probably most importantly, Mariano Rivera is leading a bullpen that is lights out. What I am basically saying is the Yankees have gotten their swagger back and they wont lose it for a while. Not only will New York win the World Series this year, but they will have a run over the next decade that will rival their teams in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.