Just in case you were searching for another reason to hate the New York Yankees

Image from twoseamfastblog.wordpress.com

It must be spring. The New York Yankees are already pissing me off.

The Yankees players who will start the season on the disabled list have a combined salary that is more than the complete player payrolls of 14 other major league teams.

• Alex Rodriguez: $28M
• Mark Teixeira: $22.5M
• Derek Jeter: $17M
• Curtis Granderson: $13M
• Phil Hughes: $7.15M
• Clay Rapada: $0.525M
• TOTAL: $88.2M

This ranks these six players’ salaries right behind the Baltimore Orioles ($89M) and just ahead of the Atlanta Braves ($88M). And note that this is just salary: it doesn’t include performance incentives.

Plus if you were to subtract that $88.2M from the total Yankee payroll of $211M, just the remaining $122.8M would rank eighth in all team salaries. Just ahead of the Texas Rangers ($121M), and just behind the defending world champion San Francisco Giants ($140M). And consider too that the Rangers are still on the hook for part of A-Rod’s salary!

I say this every fall: how much pride can you take in winning your division, league, or World Series if all you did was go out and buy it?

It must be spring. I believe in the Twins, and the Yankees still suck. From the awesome Two Seam Fastblog:

My point here, is that what makes baseball so complex and interesting, is the fact that there’s a villain and there are small peasants who, every once in a while, through merit, can rise up and slay the beast who has every advantage. The Yankees are that villain. They outspend everyone and buy championships and their fans are cruel and merciless and the man spending the money’s name is (general manager Brian) Cashman. The fact that there is this evil power residing over the entire sport creates a sentimentality about it that is lost in other sports. In other sports, underdogs are underdogs because they’re worse than the other teams. In baseball, underdogs are defined not just by the talent of the team, but by the disadvantages they face financially. You can have the most talented team in the league (Tampa Bay Rays?) and still be an underdog. Everyone loves a good David and Goliath matchup, especially when Goliath is an aristocratic dickhole.