Nothing worth fighting for should be fought alone.

One person cannot solely take on this debacle of the Yankee’s are not evil mentality; it takes lots of brilliant minds working together towards the goal. The below is from one of those minds and the responses follow....

Ok, in my angry ramblings the other night I was railing against the so-called "farm system" and home-town boys on the Yankees. See, the VALUE of a great farm system is supposed to be that you get kids young, you can train them in "your ways" and then you can hope to get a home-town discount when they become hugely valuable someday. Additionally, you get an entire stable of middling players that you can mold to your needs, and you don't need to be out in the market looking for some moderately passable left fielder when the Yankees have driven up the prices. BUT, yet again the Yankees have destroyed something beautiful by overpaying the people they farmed... they've made it so that the home-town discount barely exists anymore, and even local boys will sign with the Yankees young because they get big signing bonuses and they know if they become Jeter one day they'll get a bazillion dollars, whereas the Twins will be lucky to keep Torii Hunter who has been with them forever. In other words, all this bemoaning about how nobody plays with their original team for their whole careers anymore can all be blamed on the Yankees. They have infiltrated every level of the system and priced many teams out of their own markets. It's shameful.

Ok. I'm calm now.

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Ok. I see the frustration here. My responses:

1. The Yankees are not solely responsible for running-up prices and causing this overall 'lack of loyalty.' I mean free agency has been in effect for over 30 years and lots of teams have thrown money around. Who gave ARod $250M? Who signed Gil Meche (Gil Meche!!) for $11M/year? Not the Yankees. Who gave Barry Zito $126M? Not the Yankees.
2. The Yankees have paid the other 29 teams $100M in luxury tax and revenue sharing money. That's over $3M on average, per team. So, they pay for their excesses more than any other franchise on the planet. What do most owners do with this money? Pocket it. Can anyone make a serious argument that owners couldn't afford to take this money and pay a draft pick an extra $500K not to go to college? Seriously?
3. Another related point on the talent developed in the farm systems.keep in mind that when these guys reach the majors they get the major league minimum salary for probably the first 5 years of their career and they become arbitration-eligible. So, knowing that you're going to pay the kids chicken feed for a while, why not spend a bit more to ensure they sign with you after the draft? Penny-wise and pound-foolish if you ask me.
4. Most owners operate teams solely to make money. Now, I understand that it's important to make money on your investment. That's fine. But, most owners refuse to understand that the best way to make money, in the LONG TERM, is to put a winning team on the field. Period. I remember when the Yankees were lucky to draw 2 million in a year. This year they'll draw 4 million. That's not because Yankee Stadium is in the best part of town, either. Steinbrenner's first goal has always been to win, which I've always appreciated. I do feel sorry for the Twins that Carl Pohlad spent probably 5 years convincing Selig to contract the team just so he could get a good deal on the team and be finished. This gets to my next point:
5. Most owners cry poverty rather than being creative. So the Yankees start the YES network-nothing more than a regional sports network. Is this business model impossible to replicate in other markets? I would seriously doubt it.
6. The Twins will be opening a new stadium in 2010. Not that I've researched it, but I'm assuming this stadium will be built largely on the generosity of the taxpayers. So, unencumbered by stadium costs, will the Twins make an investment in player salaries to put a good team on the field in 2010 to drive up attendance, merchandising, etc. and really take advantage of their new environment? Or will they continue to look to save $2M by trading all-star caliber players? At some point, I don't care if you're in MN or NY, you have to make an investment and spend money to ensure longer-term success.
7. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the fact the Yankees are richer than everyone else isn't new. It's been that way for 100 years. The Yankees still haven't won every year. So, other teams must have some way of competing with them.