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Yankees can't buy Series win every year
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Published: November 6, 2009
The World Series aftermath sounds a lot like the election aftermath.
Some people are depressed about certain results and twist reality into exaggerated forms. Some people are depressed merely because the season ended and the next one doesn't start for months.
Then, you always have the divisive social issues -- the uncertain future of gay marriage in Maine, the growing certainty about paternity in the case of Pedro Martinez, who long ago suggested that the Yankees were his daddy. The 2009 retest results came back blue, dark Yankees blue.
After gimpy Hideki Matsui chopped up Philadelphia's Martinez, smacking a two-run homer and two-run single over three Wednesday innings, pinstripe lovers celebrated their 27th World Series title and Yankees haters blamed the system.
The common denial: They bought another championship.
The Steinbrenner family business spent $202 million for players, more than any other team, and spent about half that much to satisfy the socialized debt to baseball, otherwise known as revenue sharing. The Steinbrenners squeal about soaking the rich, but they pay up and pursue free agents and plow money back into the operation.
They play hardball politics, siphoning off public money for their $1.5 billion stadium, but they're hardly alone in that arena. Three of the four lowest-paying teams operate in relatively new ballparks, and the cheapest team of all, the Marlins, will move into a fresh Miami home upon completion.
Light-spending Marlins won
In baseball, competitive success doesn't follow the money dollar for-dollar despite all those whining commentaries. If money guaranteed championships, the Yankees might have won the elusive 27th trophy sometime between 2000 and 2009. They didn't, beginning with a 2001 fade against Arizona.
During that period, 23 of the 30 major-league teams reached the playoffs. Colorado, No. 25 in payroll, made the 2007 World Series. In 2005, the Chicago White Sox won the Series with the 13th-highest labor cost. Last year, the Phillies beat Tampa Bay, which responded to its windfall by paying players $63 million in 2009, more than only five other teams.
The 2003 Marlins -- same tightwads -- won their second World Series in seven seasons. At the time, that was two more than the Red Sox since 1918 and two more than the Cubs since 1908. The Cubs countdown continues after a season in which they ranked third in payroll ($135 million) and eighth in National League victories.
Wealthier teams in population centers tend to spend more and win more often. Shocking, isn't it? Five playoff teams this year came from the nine highest-paying franchises (Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Phillies, Dodgers). But the No. 2 Mets ($149 million) finished 22 games under .500, a result of bad health and bad choices.
Three other playoff teams defied the quid-pro-buck assumptions: No. 17 St. Louis ($78 million), No. 18 Colorado ($75 million) and No. 24 Minnesota ($65 million). The Cards won it all in 2006, and Minnesota contends nearly every year. The formula: scouting, development, prudence and smart management.
The Yankees have a larger margin for error because they have greater resources, mainly a team broadcasting mint with the YES Network and 4 million stadium customers at outrageously steep prices.
A spending burst last winter delivered slugger Mark Teixeira and pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. The new hands cost about $52 million in 2009 alone, inflating a payroll led by Alex Rodriguez at $33 million.
They probably made the difference over the long season. In the six-game World Series, though, Teixeira hit .136 and those pitchers combined for one win.
It takes money to win the baseball championship, and it takes a lot more than money.
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