DUGOUT: The $200 million advantage

The New York Yankees have long been regarded as the big spenders in Major League Baseball.

In 2009, New York’s combined payroll topped $200 million. Owner George Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman have a sour reputation for “spoiling” the game of baseball by operating under a “buy-the-competition” philosophy.

This was witnessed just this past offseason when the Yankees brought on Mark Teixiera, AJ Burnett, and CC Sabathia for a combined price totaling more than $50 million this year alone.

The recession that has been discussed and debated ad nauseam has forced many teams to pay a hefty toll. According to MLB, 12 teams have reduced their payrolls and almost every team has seen a decline in their season-ticket sales and corporate sponsorship.

For the Yankees, though, the money keeps pouring in. Thanks to a partnership with the YES (Yankees Entertainment and Sports) Network, Cashman has almost limitless money at his disposal, even though the Yankees actually lowered their payroll by almost $8 million from last year. One cannot fault the man for a lack of spending.

One would think that with a $50-million-a-year advantage over the Mets — who have the second-highest payroll in baseball — the Yankees could perform above and beyond any competition the rest of the league could offer.

That is far from the truth, as plainly evidenced by the 2008 Florida Marlins and the dozens of other small-market teams who compete year-in and year-out with under $100 million in payroll.

Last year, the Marlins had a payroll of just $22 million, almost 10 times less than the Yankees, yet still competed for the National League wildcard and ended up finishing third in their division.

Some baseball fans claim that “Yankee Stadium is where good baseball players go to be considered the best at their positions.” There is no doubting the loyalty of New York baseball fans. In fact, their support has been the main reason the Yankees have had such monetary success.

While Yankee fans are among the most brutal in the league — they love you until you make an out — they have provided their team with enough money to operate like they have.

But if money can’t bring the Yankees World Series’ banners — they haven’t won the Fall Classic since 2000 — why do they keep spending such a ridiculous amount of money?

As Vince Gennaro, a consultant for three MLB teams, claims, “The second-worst thing [a team] can do is overpay for a free agent. The worst thing they can do is not get the free agent and miss the postseason.”

With the money at their disposal, why wouldn’t the Yankees spend away? With the potential cash-cow otherwise known as New Yankee Stadium, the Yankees should have a reliable source of income for the next handful of decades.

Or will they?

Thus far into the season, New Yankee Stadium has seen its fair share of controversy.

Some claim the $1.5 billion project is “a park designed by NASA to conduct experiments in gravitational escape velocity of small spherical objects.” Angry fans have claimed that the stadium is unfairly favoring the powerful lineup the Yankees have put together.

Those angry fans have mostly been of the Minnesota variety, as the Yankees enjoyed three consecutive walk-off wins over the Twins in their four-game sweep this past weekend.

It’s easy to ignore the 3-1 spending advantage that the Yankees have over the Twins, which has no small correlation to the 3-23 record Minnesota has compiled at New York.

It’s easy to ignore the fact that four Yankees — Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter — make a combined $87 million this year, $22 million more than the entire Twins’ roster.

It’s easy to ignore the fact that, as one Twins’ blog points out, the lowest-paid of the aforementioned group, Damon, makes $13 million this year.

The Twins have paid a player $13 million a year exactly once in history; Johan Santana in 2007.

It’d also be easy to ignore the fact that the Yankees — along with their rivals in Boston — have an unfair advantage over the rest of the league, but they do.

Give almost any other team an extra $80 million to spend and they will become a much improved team. Some fans have seen this amazing discrepancy in payrolls and have proposed a salary cap.

I’m opposed to this. This country is built on capitalism, and if the Yankees’ business model comes back to bite them in the rear, well, that’s their problem and that’s the way our country works, whether you like it or not.

Some teams simply do not have access to the same kind of money the Yankees do. That should come as no surprise to anyone.

What is surprising, though, is the fact that the Yankees have been unable to dominate the sport of baseball like they did long ago. Any teams who play the Yankees are just like the classic underdog tale of David versus Goliath.

Yankees’ may claim that I’m biased, and they’d be right. You won’t find an objective opinion here, because I have never been a fan of a team as large or powerful as the New York Yankees. Never have I seen first-hand spending on such a massive scale. I have never experienced rooting for such a team. I always have and probably always will root against the Yankees simply because I favor the underdog.

A smile is always brought to my face when a player like Alex Rodriguez grounds into an inning-ending double-play. Take that, Cashman.

Money can’t buy you perfection, nor can it buy my fanhood.

Andrew Kneeland is a sophomore at Sahuarita High School. He is an intern at the Green Valley News.