Actually, if the Yankees were to collapse (and I still think it's a bit too early to call that) I'm not so sure they would have as much financial freedom as they have had in the past. There is a reason the Yanks didn't get Carlos Beltran and it's a reason the Yankees have rarely had to face - they couldn't afford him. Beltran was willing to give the Yankees a discount to play for them and they had to turn him down. Why? Guaranteed contracts.

According to a CBSSportsline article (http://cbs.sportsline.com/general/story/8385232), the Yankees owe their players 425.6 million in guarenteed dollars through 2010. Jason Giambi is untradeable and an albatross on the payroll. Ditto Kevin Brown and Mike Mussina. If Randy Johnson should falter (again I'm doubting this - most of his starts have been against Boston and Baltimore, two potent lineups and his start vs Tampa was decent except for two bad pitches to Perez) he would join them. Jeter, ARod, Sheffield and Posada all are still performing but the Yanks are really paying through the nose for that performance. The only value player on the roster is Matsui and he's due for a hefty raise next year.

Should the pitching staff fall apart, how will they pay to fix it? While Steinbrenner's pockets are deep, they aren't bottomless. Until the bulk of the guarenteed money going to overpayed players goes away, I don't see the Yankees being able to dominate the free agent market as they have been. Regardless, the heart of this team is still very strong and they have played a lot of games against Boston and a hot Baltimore. It's still too early to write them off.

As an aside, being an Angels fan it's nice to see all the assumptions that the Wild-Card team was going to be Boston or New York going sour. I was getting pretty sick of hearing just how great Bos/NY were. There ARE other good teams in the AL ya know. ;o)