Before Yankee fans decide to jump the gun and call me out on this, I'm just going to congratulate them on a terrific season. They overcame adversity and gelled as a team and won when it mattered.
In wake of this 27th World Series win, however, the salary does have to come into question. When will the Yankees stop "buying championships"? My firm opinion is they won't stop paying for the best until the MLB forces a salary cap on the 30 teams in the league.
In this article from CBS http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/salaries , The Yankees are top in the MLB in team payroll at just around $201 million. The next closest team, The New York Mets, are over $60 million behind The Yankees. The least wealthy team, The Florida Marlins, are sitting just over $160 million behind The Yankees.
Not calling any players out, but I know there are some that would take an extra 10 million dollars to go play for the Yankees instead of the World Series runner up Phillies. There are also players that would leave a place that they are happy just to make more money.
Other leagues like the NFL and NBA have successfully evened the competition by imposing a salary cap. Perhaps a salary cap on the MLB would change up the division races from year to year.
Changes in the MLB like salary cap would re-shape the image of the MLB and possibly generate more fans.
Take the Cincinnati Reds. How often do you hear people hyping up the Reds to start the season? Almost never. Teams that are in the gutter will finally have the chance to compete and will in effect fill the stands. Teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates that were once prestigious will finally be able to raise themselves to contention again.
In time the MLB will probably seriously consider the salary cap option and I think the benefits of doing so will be exponential.
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