Yankees Close to Acquiring Cliff Lee

Multiple sources are reporting that the New York Yankees are close to acquiring ace Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners. ESPN reported that as of this morning, the trade was "just about done." The Yankees are rumored to be offering up top prospects Jesus Montero and David Adams as well as another prospect to be determined.

This will just be downright unfair if the Yankees get Lee. It will be the exact reason why baseball needs to implement a salary cap. In no sport can you simply buy a championship like you can in baseball. Granted, it doesn't always just work out like that. Most of the time, you actually can't just buy a championship. But the Yankees did it last season, using their completely absurd payroll to win the world series and break their nearly decade-long drought. Now, if they acquire Cliff Lee, they will be the hands-down favorite to repeat. Even coming from a Red Sox fan with a big Boston bias, this team would be damn near impossible to beat in a playoff series.

The Red Sox are included in the group of teams that benefits from unlimited spending. They are up there, on the level below the Yankees. The Mets, the Dodgers -- the big market teams can spend. But nobody can spend like the Yankees can. Plain and simply, the MLB would just become a much better corporation if it instituted a hard salary cap. Take the NFL as an example. Every year is a new season, and any team can rise to the top. We've seen dramatic turn-arounds from a number of teams (you don't have to go back too far to find the last time the Saints were near the bottom of the league. Look where they've gotten themselves to!). Because every team is on level ground, spending wise. It doesn't work that way in baseball. When was the last time the Yankees or Red Sox were at the bottom of the division? When did you last see the Pirates, the Reds, or the Royals making a splash? It's incredibly difficult for small market teams to succeed in baseball. The Rockies and Rays have been two of the exceptions in recent memory -- they have grown great young talent and gotten themselves back on the map. For the most part, though, the teams with money are the teams that win. Simple as that. And it creates a poor balance of power. A salary cap would level the playing field, create that competitive balance that everyone wants, and prevent teams like the Yankees from literally buying themselves a world series ring.

Will the Yanks get Lee? And if they do, are they a lock to return to baseball's Fall Classic? I sure hope not, but even if they acquire the talented lefty, we can only hope our Red Sox can cowboy up.