HOGWASH

The Yankees are world champions.  Truth and justice have triumphed over evil.

Actually, the triumph over evil occurred when the Red Sox were eliminated.  But now the Yankee haters in the media and in the hinterlands are once again attempting to belittle the Yankees’ victory.  Over and over the talking heads on ESPN, Yahoo, and other so-called pundits are bleating that the Yankees bought the championship.  There is a technical term for this argument.  That term is:  HOGWASH.

Their theory is that the Yankees signed all the best players, thereby “buying” the championship.  A careful examination of the Yankee roster demonstrates the fundamental inaccuracy of this assertion.

Granted, the Yankees signed Sabathia, Teixeira and Burnett last winter.  But aside from those three players, the Yankee roster contained only one other free agent signing – Johnny Damon, who was lured away from the Red Sox three years ago.

The rest of the team was either developed in the farm system or acquired by trade.  Posada, Cano, Jeter, Pena, Gardner, Melky, Cervelli, Duncan, Guzman, Pettite, Joba, Hughes, Coke, Robertson, Aceves, and Mo all came up with the Yankees as rookies and, with the exception of Andy’s three year hiatus with the Astros, are life-long Yankees.  The balance of the roster came through trades.  Molina was sold by the Angels.  Arod was traded by the Rangers for Soriano.  Swisher came from the White Sox for Wilson Betemit.  Hairston came from the Reds, and Hinske from the Pirates.   Bruney was reclaimed off the scrap heap after Arizona let him go.  Marte and Nady were traded by the Pirates, and Gaudin by the Padres.

Matsui was signed after a distinguished career in Japan.  You could argue that he qualifies as a free agent signing, but he was not an established major leaguer, and therefore is not in the same category as Sabathia and Burnett.  And let’s not forget that the Red Sox have incessantly raided the Japanes leagues.  Their roster includes DiceK, Okajima, and Tazawa.

In short, the Yankees did not buy the championship.  Brian Cashman did a masterful job of assembling this panoply of talent in the traditional way – through player development and trades.

But you would never know it if you listen to the mainstream media.  The so-called pundits play to the crowd, the crowd being the extensive anti-New York element that pervades the hinterlands.  I find it interesting that no one accused the Red Sox of “buying” the championship when they won with two free agent signings in the heart of their lineup.  Everyone conveniently forgets that David “Big Juicer” Ortiz and his pal Manny came from the free agent market.  And I noticed no one complained last winter when the Red Sox offered Mark Teixeira seventy million dollars to sign with them.  That was considered smart business.  But when the Yankees swooped in and stole Tex, they were “buying the championship”.

What a load of HOGWASH.

So get over it, Yankee haters.  The Yankees won fair and square.  They are the best team.  That’s why they won the World Series.  We are the champions, my friend.  Deal with it.

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