YANKEES DONE LIKE DINNER

Amazing.  Truly amazing.

The New York Yankees have lost to the Texas Rangers despite a payroll that is four times that of the Rangers.  According to CBSSports.com, the Yankees paid their underachieving players a total of $206 million this season.  The Rangers, by contrast, paid their roster $55 million.  Can you imagine how much better the Rangers would be than the Yankees if they had the means to even double their payroll? 

To me, the Yankees border on incompetence despite being in the playoffs every single year.  I would challenge just about anybody to use the financial means the Yankees have and screw things up more than they have.  It takes no baseball acumen whatsoever to overpay the players they've given lofty contracts to. 

Let's just examine the Rangers for a moment and then compare them to what the Yankees have done.  Colby Lewis pitched two gems in this series.  Lewis was banished to Japan a few years back because he couldn't get the ball over the plate.  Texas scouted him and liked that he was able to refine his mechanics, so they brought him back and he's become an above average starter.  CJ Wilson has, successfully through coaching, been transformed into a bonafide #2 starter, and their General Manager, Jon Daniels, had the guts and smarts to put together a midseason trade to bring in Cliff Lee to anchor the staff. 

Now, let's look at the Yankees.  They threw $16.5 million (per season) at AJ Burnett and should've known full well that Burnett really doesn't give a hoot so long as he gets his cash.  Burnett only pitches well when there is a payday at stake.  He's proven that a number of times throughout his career even before he became a Yankee.  They gave $11.5 million (per season) to Javier Vazquez.  He was so bad I don't even know where he is.  He was nowhere to be found on their postseason roster.  One has to think they had a little bit of money in the kitty to bring someone else in at the trade deadline to alleviate the workload thrust upon Phil Hughes, but they didn't bother.

The Rangers aren't without their waste either, but they make up for it elsewhere.  Jeff Francoeur ($5 million) and Jorge Cantu ($6 million) are overpaid by quite a bit; but they also have bargain deals when you look at the likes of Josh Hamilton ($3.2 million), Nelson Cruz ($440 000), and David Murphy ($427 000).  How come the Yankees can't get these bargains?

Instead, the Yanks go out and sign Mark Teixeira ($20.6 million) and he was 3-for-35 when you combine the World Series from last year and this seasons ALCS.  These stats tell us Teixeira is not a clutch player.  He is, however, great at hitting a three run homer to turn a 7-1 game into a 10-1 game.  Derek Jeter was paid $22.6 million this year and is now a free agent.  What do you think the Yanks will give him in the offseason?  How does 4-years at $100 million sound?  Switch hitting Lance Berkman was paid $14.5 million and hit .111 as a right handed batter. 

Don't worry about the Yanks though.  Cliff Lee is going to get around $30 million a season from them in about a month.  It's a no brainer.  The Yanks are good at those.  But when it comes time to actually make a sound baseball decision, they have failed at just about every single one; or they just don't bother making a decision.  Who's the top free agent hitter?  Carl Crawford, and he'll command about $25 million per season from them.  Will Crawford be 20-times the player Brett Gardner is?  Unlikely.  But, it doesn't matter.  Crawford and Lee are the best and the Yanks will sign them, bidding against themselves in the process.  Somehow, though, they will still find themselves in a huge battle to win a World Series.

Fans that say money doesn't buy championships are right.  But, money does buy you a trip to the playoffs every year and a 1-in-4 chance to play in the World Series.  There is no other way to explain how the Yankees get there because they have little to no management skills in the front office and little to no character on the roster.  Heck, CC Sabathia (their best player) didn't even want to be a Yankee.  He was forced to accept when the offer got up to $24 million a year and nobody else exceeded $15 million.

The best part about all this?  Yankee fans care more about the ALCS embarrassment than the players do.  A-Rod, Teixeira (who probably faked his pulled hammy), Swisher, Burnett, and company just got a longer offseason to spend their millions.