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Yankees prove to world that money isn't everything

Who gets the blame for not winning a World Series?

The question seems ridiculous, unless you're in the Yankees' universe, where success and failure is determined by championships.

The Yankees are on a franchise-wide griddle. By their own standard, they should be.

They spend more money on players than any other team in Major League Baseball. At one level, this is good. But it also makes being mowed down by a low-payroll team like the Florida Marlins seem all the more dramatic.

The Yankees have a payroll estimated at nearly US$157 million, as against just over US$52 million for the Marlins, a 3-1 ratio that did not translate to the playing field in the World Series.

Brian Cashman, the Yankees' general manager, dismisses as foolish the notion that their payroll -- the highest in baseball history -- should guarantee winning, season after season, World Series appearances year-in and year-out.

"Payroll has nothing to do with it," Cashman said Friday. "We're the only team with the highest payroll in the division that winds up in the playoffs. If payroll had something to do with it, then in the American League West the Seattle Mariners would have won it, or the Texas Rangers. In the National League West, the Dodgers would have made the playoffs. In the National League Central, the Cardinals would be in the playoffs, in the National League East, the Mets would have been in the playoffs. In the American League Central the White Sox would be in the playoffs."

Cashman continued: "If payroll had something to do with it, the Marlins wouldn't be here. Bottom line is: The great thing about baseball is just because you might have an US$11 million pitcher on the mound, a guy who is making US$500,000 on the opposing mound could still win that game. Payroll really doesn't translate."

Andy Pettitte earned about US$11.5 million this season, while the opposing starter in Game 6 on Saturday night, Josh Beckett, earned about US$1.7 million.

"Payroll leaders didn't make the playoffs," Cashman added. "If payroll mattered, what are the Marlins doing here?"

The more poignant question for Cashman is: How did the Marlins beat up on the Yankees?

Cashman's feet have not been publicly held to the fire. Yet. The principal owner, George Steinbrenner, did chide him during the season when he praised Theo Epstein, the Boston general manager, for assembling a powerful team. Of course, if the Red Sox had lost the way they did with Steinbrenner as owner, the organization, from Epstein down, would have been showered, and not with praise.

In six seasons as general manager, Cashman has presided over three World Series championship teams.

These Yankees are only the fourth team to win at least three straight. Here's the problem: Two of the others were Yankees teams that did even better. The 1949-1953 Yankees won five straight championships, and the 1936-1939 Yankees won four straight.

Wealth does matter, and Cashman knows it.

"Wealth means you have more chances to retain your players, more of a chance to play in all available markets," he said.

The Yankees brought in Hideki Matsui from Japan and Jose Contreras from Cuba.

For all the money at his disposal, Cashman failed to build a bridge between his starting pitchers and Mariano Rivera, baseball's greatest closer.
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