6 1618 Guest4900 (IP: 67.81.156.61) drrubb^996 Re: Yankees Finished '05 Season With A Record $207.2 Million Payroll [Reply to #1626] 1/7/06, 6:39pm Brown, Pavano, Lofton, & Womack would be stars on a small market team. Come on, seriously man! The Yanks have Damon,Jeter,Arod,Sheffield,Giambi,Matsui. The Royals have, ah, well, ah ................. I can't think of anybody. Sweeney maybe? Give me a freakin break man! The Yankees are the best team money can buy. Give the Yankees the Royals or Devil Rays salary cap & see how you do. Then come back & whine to me how the system is fine. Let's talk about farm systems by the way. Just because some of the small market teams might have good farm systems, don't mean they are going to reap the benefits. Here's why. Even if a super major league prospect comes up through the minors through a small market organization, the small market teams won't be able to keep them after a year or two because they don't usually have the money to keep that prospect around, especially if he is a hot prospect who blossoms quickly. Then someone like the Yankees comes along & snags him because they can more than afford him. What sucks about this is that the small market team developed the prospect, then they don't really get to enjoy the fruits of their hard labor because the Yankees flex their financial muscle & Steinbrenner opens up his bottomless checkbook. The other problem here is that the Yankees trick these small market teams by giving them prospects from their farm system in return for the small market team's star players. It might seem like a decent deal on paper for both sides at the beginning, but a couple of years lator, the Yankees turn right around & go back after those hot prospects they traded away to those small market teams a couple of seasons prior, after the small market teams have gone to the trouble of further developing these blossoming players. The Yankees just get them back when they become ripe because the small market teams can't afford to keep them around. The system SUCKS! The Yankees monopolize everything & just because the Yankees don't when the World Series every year doesn't mean they are not in the running to win it every season because of their money. They only know how to buy championships. I would like to see them win a World Series with the Royals or Devil Rays salary. There needs to be a salary cap! [drrubb from Panama City Beach/Florida] Replies: 1633