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Anyone who knows that I'm a Reds fan probably could have guessed that my current least favorite team is the St. Louis Cardinals. Those rascals landed at #30 in my countdown of worst-to-best MLB teams.
Today, we shift over to the American League for the team residing in my 29th spot on my list of favorite teams: the New York Yankees.
To a certain extent, it's almost cliche to hate the Yankees these days. In fact, there's a small part of me that takes some sort of sadistic joy that my true least favorite team isn't New York but rather the smaller market St. Louis Cardinals. On the other hand, the Yankees really are freaking obnoxious so they do deserve a lot of the scorn that gets tossed their way.
One of the biggest reasons that lots of people dislike the Yankees is that for many the Yankees seemed to basically have an unlimited budget for acquiring players. The Yankees would almost systematically raid and pillage poorer teams for their stars - and if player New York liked ever hit the open market in free agency, well, good luck to any other team hoping to acquire said player (such as Alex Rodriguez awhile back or even Curtis Granderson more recently).
That said, a lot of the big contracts New York has handed out over the years haven't exactly panned out - and at point I think the Yankees had one of the worst farm systems in the big leagues because they simply didn't care about the future- in New York, you have to live in the moment (it's very much a "what have you done for me lately" sort of city).
Another reason that the Yankees land so low on my list is that they simply receive too much coverage by the media and too much (unequal) love by sport card companies (especially Topps but they aren't the only guilty company). Plenty of seemingly likable players have been killed in my mind by their over-saturation in the baseball card market. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Mantle come to mind as retired greats that I simply don't need to see in another baseball card product for a decade or so.
As I try to do, there are some good things about New York. Once in awhile they have a much ballyhooed player who they sign that doesn't live up to expectations at all. That's kind of fun to watch. The Yankees also blew the World Series to the Diamondbacks during my first year of college (I went to school in central Pennsylvania where there were a lot of Yankee fans). I appreciated getting to not have to hear all the Yankee fans be obnoxiously happy that night.
Seriously though, there are some decent things about the Yankees. While I never liked the guy, Derek Jeter did seem to be a decent person given all his fame and fortune - and he does have a number of really nice baseball cards out there. Then again, all Yankees seem to have a ton of baseball cards simply because they are Yankees...surely some of those cards have to end up being good looking, right?!
Finally, I dislike New York because they always seem to come out way ahead when dealing with the Reds in trades, at least lately. A few years ago, New York basically got Aroldis Chapman for a couple of duffle bags and some used pine tar. Chapman, of course, would go on to be a key component of the Yankees bullpen, flipped to Chicago for some pieces, then resigned by New York in a bit of a big market chess match. The Reds, on the other hand, got virtually nothing.
History may be on the verge of repeating itself as the Reds seem to currently be fixated on acquiring Sonny Gray from the Yankees - and in exchange giving up one of their top 10 prospects plus another draft pick (at least if the latest rumors are to be believed). Visiting a Yankees blog, I saw that Yankee fans were ecstatic for the rumored return they'd be getting for a pitcher everyone seemed to hate! Hopefully either the rumors are wrong or just maybe the Reds know what they are doing for once with this Gray deal. Either way, until the Reds come out ahead of the Yankees, I'm going to hate on New York!
Join me as I continue my series ranking the remaining MLB teams! By the way, the cards featured in this post are all up for grabs in a single PWE. Just say the word and they are yours (and maybe send me something I'll like in return)?
My list of favorite MLB teams (from worst to first):
#30: St. Louis Cardinals (post)
#29: New York Yankees
to be continued...
Today, we shift over to the American League for the team residing in my 29th spot on my list of favorite teams: the New York Yankees.
To a certain extent, it's almost cliche to hate the Yankees these days. In fact, there's a small part of me that takes some sort of sadistic joy that my true least favorite team isn't New York but rather the smaller market St. Louis Cardinals. On the other hand, the Yankees really are freaking obnoxious so they do deserve a lot of the scorn that gets tossed their way.
One of the biggest reasons that lots of people dislike the Yankees is that for many the Yankees seemed to basically have an unlimited budget for acquiring players. The Yankees would almost systematically raid and pillage poorer teams for their stars - and if player New York liked ever hit the open market in free agency, well, good luck to any other team hoping to acquire said player (such as Alex Rodriguez awhile back or even Curtis Granderson more recently).
That said, a lot of the big contracts New York has handed out over the years haven't exactly panned out - and at point I think the Yankees had one of the worst farm systems in the big leagues because they simply didn't care about the future- in New York, you have to live in the moment (it's very much a "what have you done for me lately" sort of city).
Another reason that the Yankees land so low on my list is that they simply receive too much coverage by the media and too much (unequal) love by sport card companies (especially Topps but they aren't the only guilty company). Plenty of seemingly likable players have been killed in my mind by their over-saturation in the baseball card market. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Mantle come to mind as retired greats that I simply don't need to see in another baseball card product for a decade or so.
As I try to do, there are some good things about New York. Once in awhile they have a much ballyhooed player who they sign that doesn't live up to expectations at all. That's kind of fun to watch. The Yankees also blew the World Series to the Diamondbacks during my first year of college (I went to school in central Pennsylvania where there were a lot of Yankee fans). I appreciated getting to not have to hear all the Yankee fans be obnoxiously happy that night.
Seriously though, there are some decent things about the Yankees. While I never liked the guy, Derek Jeter did seem to be a decent person given all his fame and fortune - and he does have a number of really nice baseball cards out there. Then again, all Yankees seem to have a ton of baseball cards simply because they are Yankees...surely some of those cards have to end up being good looking, right?!
Finally, I dislike New York because they always seem to come out way ahead when dealing with the Reds in trades, at least lately. A few years ago, New York basically got Aroldis Chapman for a couple of duffle bags and some used pine tar. Chapman, of course, would go on to be a key component of the Yankees bullpen, flipped to Chicago for some pieces, then resigned by New York in a bit of a big market chess match. The Reds, on the other hand, got virtually nothing.
History may be on the verge of repeating itself as the Reds seem to currently be fixated on acquiring Sonny Gray from the Yankees - and in exchange giving up one of their top 10 prospects plus another draft pick (at least if the latest rumors are to be believed). Visiting a Yankees blog, I saw that Yankee fans were ecstatic for the rumored return they'd be getting for a pitcher everyone seemed to hate! Hopefully either the rumors are wrong or just maybe the Reds know what they are doing for once with this Gray deal. Either way, until the Reds come out ahead of the Yankees, I'm going to hate on New York!
Join me as I continue my series ranking the remaining MLB teams! By the way, the cards featured in this post are all up for grabs in a single PWE. Just say the word and they are yours (and maybe send me something I'll like in return)?
My list of favorite MLB teams (from worst to first):
#30: St. Louis Cardinals (post)
#29: New York Yankees
to be continued...
The trade you mention at the end of your post is one that had me puzzled, at least from the Reds point of view.
ReplyDeleteCan't stand them, but they have a few players (Gehrig, Jeter, Guidry, and Munson) that I enjoy collecting.
ReplyDelete