The media has always made the New York Yankees payroll a focal point for criticizing the franchise for, in truth, their generous wallets.
So, after reading the recent article by Ronald Blum of the NY Post about how Yankees Alex Rodriguez is earning a paycheck that is just shy of the entire payroll of the Kansas City Royals, it got me thinking.…
This topic is not anything new for Yankee fans or anyone for that matter, but just as the media thrives on reminding people why to resent the Yankees, fans like myself need to let you know the truth.
The fact is the Yankees reputation is based on famously over-paying players, that are undeserving and overrated. The Yankee haters claim they grab the best of whatever the current baseball market has to offer, and unfairly presenting individuals with monster contracts that are impossible to match or to decline.
This way of thinking made me feel sorry for the literally poor Royals, as their lack of success was being hampered by their own abilities to offer only petty paychecks. This makes it seem that what is just one player to the Yankees could be new life for the Royals.
So, are the Yankees to blame for this and are they worthy of this reputation?
Most definitely, but why is this such an ‘evil’ thing? The Yankees aren’t stealing or asking for handouts, and the owners are beyond generous in their efforts to give New York the best team they possibly can.
Now, back to Blum’s article.
Blum was not openly criticizing A-rod or the Yankees, it is a mere comparison of actual numbers. It also reminded everyone, like we could forget, how rich A-rod is and how much the Yankees spend.
Blum is stating proven facts, and it makes the Royals out like abandoned orphans who are doing the best with what they have.
Conveniently, Blum omitted some important facts that made me change my whole original thoughts.
Here is what was left out:
Blum’s article states:
Kansas City’s payroll was cut in half from $72.3 million at the start of 2010. The Royals traded Zach Greinke and Gil Meche retired. The Yankees, as usual, had the top payroll but dropped to $201.7 million from $206.3 million at the start of last season.
This explains the Royals payroll, which currently stands at $36.1 million.
What Blum forgot to mention was that after the 2010 season, the Royals received a revenue check for $32 million (or more). This check comes out of the wealthy pockets of teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies, who each give up 34% profits so these lower market ball-clubs, like the Royals can have the funds to stay competitive.
According to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, Forbes reported that the Royals are worth $351 million and that 2010 marked the seventh running year in a row the Royals have finished the season in the black (meaning the Royals were profitable). This was shocking, until I did some research on my own.
The Royals owner, David Glass the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc is worth billions of dollars. Translation is that Glass could spend $50 million on his team without blinking an eye, but instead Glass makes a profit at the expense of giving Royals fans a non-contending team.
While running Wal-Mart, Glass was the anchor behind the company’s expansion. The methods and ethics used to obtain the success with Wal-Mark are horrific. Glass boasted the fact that Wal-Mart products were made in the USA, when the truth is they were coming out of sweat-shops in Asia. You can read his reactions when asked about by Dateline in this blurb called NAILED in TIME MAGAZINE.
This makes me feel even worse for Kansas City and the Royals fans because their beloved ball-club is at the hands of a greedy billionaire, whose priority is to add more zeros onto his billions.
In turn, this makes Blum’s article lose its creditability, as it is pointless without giving us all the facts. Unless, Blum was just taking a subtle jab to remind people why they should hate A-rod and the Yankees.
All Yankee fans can do is thank their lucky stars that the Steinbrenner family is so overly unselfish. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: The Not So Evil Empire’ »
When we watch professional baseball players on TV or at the ballpark, none of us really understand what most had to go through to get to the top.
