Major League Baseball

Yanks are proof you have to spend wisely

Published Oct. 22, 2009 4:44 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

The free-spending New York Yankees in recent years have blundered their way through paydays without cashing in on a world championship since 2001.


downlevel descriptionThis video requires the Adobe Flash Player. Download a free version of the player.


But now look at them.

The Yankees have finally figured out not only how to outspend the rest of baseball, but how to spend wisely. And the truth, hard as it may be for some to admit, is that the Yankees are one victory away from their first World Series appearance since 2003.

Damn Yankees.

They have been an easy team to hate. They have thrown baseball's payroll structure out of whack, coming into this season, for example, not only with the highest payroll in baseball, but more than $50 million bigger than the nearly $150 million payroll of the Mets, who ranked No. 2.

And the Yankee haters have been able to take joy in the fact that despite how much money they have spent, they haven't been able to buy a world championship since 2000.

The Yankees have been home stoking the fireplace in late October while their archnemesis, Boston, has won two world championships since the Yankees last celebrated, and Philadelphia, St. Louis, the Chicago White Sox, Florida, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Arizona have all hung up a world championship banner, too.

The Yankees didn't even get to the postseason last year, and they were victims of first-round eliminations the three postseasons before that. They only won four postseason games the last four years.

And then along comes 2009.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball