Money Can't Buy You Love But It Can Buy You Championships

So the inevitable was realized and the 2009 crown went to the Bronx, and everyone in America sighed. The 2009 Yankees squad is proof that with enough cash thrown at the right places, a team can be fielded that will be the most talented in the majors. When a team has the most talent, in baseball especially, it is only a matter of time until that team wins. The Yankees managed to secure the two top pitchers and the top position player during the free agency period in the off season for the bargain basement price of $422.5 million. As it turns out the near-half a billion dollars turned out to be a sound investment as it yielded the desired results.

Up until this season the 2004 Boston Red Sox had been the team with the highest payroll to ever win a championship with a payroll of around $125 million. This years Yankees team will have that distinction with a payroll of $208,097,414.

This is not to say that a team with a smaller pay roll has no chance of competing for a championship, the Yankees have consistently spent upwards of 200 million dollars for the past 8-10 years and this is their first title since their new money-spending philosophy. The hall mark of the 2000 Yankees, when they won their previous championship, was that they were a team of scrappy ball players, who were brought up from within the Yankees system. The contemporary version bears no resemblance of that squad, minus the few holdovers from that one.

New York's World Series opponent, the Phillies, spent nearly 100 million dollars less and managed to have a chance to repeat as champs. The Tampa Bay Rays had a pay roll of $43 million in 2008 and managed to beat their affluent Boston and New York rivals for the AL pennant. These teams show that money is not everything, but their margin for error on their drafting and scouting is minimal compared to a team who can just patch a hole with that years big money free agent.

Ultimately MLB is a 9 team race: Red Sox, Yankees, Twins,Tigers, Angels, Dodgers, Phillies, Cardinals, and Team Du Jour (the one surprise team that makes some noise in the wild card such as the Rangers or the Rockies). As long as their is no salary cap system in place, MLB will retain this hierarchy of rich versus poor and the fans will be the victims. Parity, the accomplishment of the NFL, is nonexistent in baseball.