Quote:
Originally Posted by guccilvr
I think there's plenty of proof in the Marlins and the Rays that money can't buy playoffs or a championship.
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This is a popular, yet flawed, view (especially coming from a Yankees, Jr. fan
).
When you get to the playoffs, it is almost a complete crapshoot. A couple pitchers run hit or cold, a batter gets a couple hits at exactly the right time, and the 85-win team wins the World Series while the 105-win team goes home in the first round.
However, the regular season is much less of a crapshoot. 162 games tend to weed out the teams that get hot only for short stretches, while not penalizing teams who go through early or late slumps as much.
The Yankees went to the playoffs six consecutive years in their rebuilt, home-grown phase when they were developing Jeter and Posada and Rivera and Pettite.
2001 is basically the dividing line when they went to the free-agent, big-money mode with Jeter's extension and signing Mussina and Giambi and trading for Rodriguez. How many times did they then go to the playoffs in the seven years from 2001 to 2007?
Seven times.
Ten of 13 years, they won the division.
It's very easy to say, "They haven't won a World Series since 2000, so the money they spent wasn't worth it." However, getting to the playoffs is the most important part of winning the World Series.
That is why being able to spend as much as they can, or honestly even as much as the Red Sox or Angels or Cubs can, is a danger to the competitive balance of the sport.