It's baseball season again, and you know what that means. It's time for high hopes, high standards and everyone to complain about the New York Yankees' payroll.
I won't complain though, because George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees and their nearly $200 million payroll are all good for baseball.
What's bad for baseball are all these so-called "small market" teams claiming that they are unable to compete with the "evil empire" in New York City. A better term for "small market" teams would be "small owner" teams.
The Oakland A's are a good example of a "small owner" team. Thanks to poor financial decisions from owner Steve Schott, Miguel Tejada went from being the league's MVP in 2002 to being left on the free-agent market in 2003.
What causes this? Schott didn't have enough money to keep him.
The New York Yankees, on the other hand, consistently improve their team. Because the Yankees' roster is full of all-stars, "The House that Ruth Built" sells out almost every game, bringing in large amounts of revenue to the franchise.
As any baseball connoisseur knows, the reason for this is that the Yankees always put an exciting product on the field. Operative word: product.
Product means money is involved.
Even though he puts all this money into the Yankees, George Steinbrenner doesn't make the biggest profit every year.
The Milwaukee Brewers, who have not finished out of the cellar of the NL central since they were moved there from the AL central six years ago, annually make more of a profit than the "Evil Empire" rooted in the Bronx.
Also stemming from Yankee Stadium is the largest amount of revenue sharing paid by any major league team. MLB Commissioner, Bud Selig, created this revenue sharing policy in order to balance out the payroll of the 29 major league teams.
Only the Yankees are stuck paying the extra luxury tax. Well, if the Yankees are giving all this money away to teams that apparently have none of their own, why is it that the rest of the league still loses their best players to free-agency?
Let's take a look two of the teams who get the money: the Devil Rays and the Padres.
Tampa Bay gets no one to go to their games, so they use the revenue sharing to pay rent on the ugliest stadium in baseball, and have none left to sign quality free-agents.
The Padres took their share of the money and moved themselves into a new and extremely beautiful stadium, Petco Park. However, that sapped their bankroll, and they only added two free agents.
Not any of these expenditures were any good for the sport of baseball, but the fact is, Bud Selig, along with everyone who complains about the Yankees, doesn't care about the sport of baseball. They don't care about our National Pastime. They care about their wallets filling with cash.
People claim the Yankees are bad for baseball, because they don't make the largest profit every year.
But George Steinbrenner doesn't care about turning out the biggest profit every year; he cares about the game, the National Pastime. Steinbrenner will go out and spend all the money he can to make sure he puts a great team on the field day in and day out. The Boss knows that the only way to win in baseball is to have 29 quality players you can put on the field every game. And Steinbrenner knows that every player he has is a player his opponents don't have.
But remember, as you watch our National Pastime crumble, Commissioner Selig says that's good for baseball.
Or, you can look at the Yankees. Look at all the players who are proud to be in pinstripes, and love to be involved with this team in any way they can.
And when you see the Bronx Bombers at Yankee Stadium, the stands packed with screaming fans, you'll know the difference between good for baseball, and good for money.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
