Someone, please stop the Yankees

If there is one thing you need to know about me and baseball it’s simply that I cannot stand the New York Yankees.

Firstly, they spend money like it’s going out of style. Baseball has a luxury tax that was instituted to penalize teams whose player payrolls exceeded a defined threshold (that was much too high to begin with, but that’s another story). For the 2006 season, the Yankees, with a payroll of about $200 million, will pay a tax calculated at 40% of their total player salaries that exceed $136.5 million. It won't even make the Yankees blink an eye.

Secondly, despite the fact they’ve lost more than they’ve won over the past decade, they still hold a constant aura of “we’re better than you”. I have no problem with confidence, in fact, I believe it helps. The Yankees go beyond that – well beyond it.

Lastly, I want to make it perfectly clear that I respect what the Yankees have done in the past. The tradition of the Yankee pinstripes from players such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, is what legends are made of. I very well could have cheered for those Yankees of days past, when players wanted to play for the team, not for dollar signs.

I always have a soft spot for the Boston Red Sox as they usually give the Yankees a run for their money, but they’ve had the worst record in baseball since the All-Star break. I hope some team will arise to slay this giant before it’s all said and done. If not, it will be a long, long, off-season.