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Why it Sucks to Be a Yankees Fan This Year

As a Yankee fan, I should probably be thrilled over the C.C. Sabathia signing, but I'm not. First off, there's not much satisfaction in watching your team's GM outspend everyone else to build a winner. I have no particular allegiance to Sabathia as a player just like I have none for Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Mike Cameron or any one else who's come, gone or about to arrive in recent years. Jerry Seinfeld had a bit about "rooting for a uniform" since the players change so much, and that's how it feels. I still love Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera (career Yanks), but the former two are past their peak, and the latter will be 39 and is coming off shoulder surgery.

Second, the Sox and Rays are in far better shape as organizations right now, and the Yankees should be rebuilding rather than signing big-name free agents. They tried that last year, but sometimes it takes a few seasons. You can argue that given the money on their payroll, they need to go all out, but that's what they did in the '80s and to disastrous effect. You can also argue that New York won't accept a rebuilding team, but interest was never greater after they rebuilt in the early 90s, and even the Knicks have people excited to watch their games again. Who cares if people are upset in the short term? Short-team thinking is why Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers went broke. Suck it up and lose some games in the short term and build a top notch farm system. Then you can add the right free-agent or two.

And it's not just the Yankees - it's baseball in general. Seinfeld actually had it wrong - it's not he uniform you root for, but some suits in your team's front office. It's like rooting for someone else's fantasy team - and if there's one truism in fantasy sports, it's that no one cares about anyone else's team. Why do we even know who Theo Epstein, Billy Beane and Brian Cashman are? Because those are the only guys who matter these days in having a successful franchise since the on-field parts are all so fungible.

The bottom line is that the Yankees are supposed to be MY team, not Brian Cashman's fantasy one. And they can establish that the way they did in the 90s by developing good players and keeping them around for a while.

I realize player movement happens in all sports, but in baseball especially it's gone too far. At least in the NFL, you almost never see a franchise quarterback change teams unless he's in the twilight of his career. In baseball the very best players play on multiple teams in a short span. Sabathia was on the Indians, then the Brewers, now the Yankees. Jake Peavy will be on the Cubs. In the NFL, superstars don't change teams unless there's an attitude issue, e.g, Moss, Owens, and far more spend their entire career with one team (well, their entire meaningful career at least - I don't count Emmitt Smith's Cardinals stint as a real issue).

A salary cap would go a long way to solving some of these problems and making it more enjoyable to be a fan of your real life team.

In football, I'll always put the Giants first, but when it comes to baseball, I'm starting to care more about my fantasy teams.