So the folks in the "Big Apple" are crowing. They were able to lure Roger Clemens back to New York to pitch one more summer. They are calling him the savior, and perhaps it will jumpstart their season.
For a team that's 14-15 and looked pitiful at times, Clemens will help their pitching staff. However, that is if he stays healthy, which is something Yankee pitchers have had trouble doing.
The salary is said to be a pro-rated $28 million one year deal, or about $4.5 million a month. What other team can afford that? Manchester United the English soccer team?
The Players Association keeps resisting a salary cap in baseball, yet the teams are not playing on a level field. This continues to plague the sport, and is totally unfair to the fans.
I've heard the comments before, look how many different teams have won the World Series. All right let's look. The Cardinals, a team steeped in tradition, which still draws a national audience won last season. Once upon a time, the Cardinals were the only team west of the Mississippi, and while the city may not be a "major market," the team has drawing power which extends far and wide. In 2006 the White Sox swept the Astros which are both in major markets, and the year before the Red Sox finally reversed the curse. Boston is also a major market, and the Sox not only are a regional attraction, but they too like the Cardinals have a national audience.
The fact is fans in Tampa, Kansas City, Colorado, Pittsburgh and Dallas pretty much know World Series dreams are just that, fantasy, and that's not fair.
The players will say let the market set salaries, but that argument doesn't hold water, because the "market" is already restricted.
What if the league decided teams could have as many players as they wanted on their roster, like any work force. Then the Yankees could have 30 or 50 players or more on their squad. Or perhaps teams like Tampa would only suit up 12 because of "market" reasons. This of course is non-sense because everyone in the league has agreed to the 25 man roster. But what baseball still does not control is spiralling salaries which in the end are paid by the fans.
Roger says the deal wasn't about money, however in the end it is. The Associated Press says 11 players make $16 million or more in Major League Baseball, 5 including Roger play for the Yankees. In short, no baseball team can outbid the Yankees if they really want a player, but they can beat them on the field, and when they do, it's always sweet.

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