Armchair Sports Blog

Love ‘em or hate ‘em you have to admire their will and their commitment to win. After signing C.C. Sabathia (eight years, $161 million) and A.J. Burnett (five years, $82.5 million), the Yankees now ink their very much needed first baseman, Mark Teixeira. With Tex’s deal (eight years, $161 million), the Yankees have spent $423.5 million on three new players.

Now let’s get down to the dirt. As a Yankees fan, I love the move and of course I expect them to win. However, I can hear all you Yankees haters out there already, “there they go again trying to buy another World Series.” Allow me to retort, don’t hate us ‘cuz you ain’t us! If there is anyone you should be mad at it’s the MLB Players Union because they refuse to agree to a salary cap. Besides have we not seen smaller market teams like the Florida Marlins win championships recently (and the Tampa Bay Rays almost did it last season)? Look at the bright side Yankee haters, ya’ll can rejoice if the season ends and the Yankees choke big-time. It will easily be the biggest choke job in MLB history and before you say it’s not possible just remember the Yankees have a guy on their team named Alex Rodriguez who can and may find a way to make it a reality. Hell, he’s already been dumped by a 50 year old, washed-up pop singer.

So, whether it’s bitterness or just plain disgust, no baseball fan has any room to talk about how the Yankees operate. The obvious fix is to institute a salary cap. Of course, this would surely infuse a strike by the players and baseball would risk losing even more ground in American sports but if things continue as it is now, I’m not sure the same result wouldn’t occur. If ever there was a need for a salary cap, now is the time.