In the 2018 Yankees, there is no "evil" and no "empire"

Lately, the conventional Gammonitic cracker-barrel drivel has troweled up a rather convenient chestnut for 2018: It's okay to hate the Yankees again, because the "Evil Empire" once again embodies the big money arrogance in sports.

This allows Redsock fans - (aka Yankee haters who follow Boston) - to cloak their regular vitriolic bile in a bleached white sheet of morality. The fact is, for some Yankee haters - not all, but definitely some - their negative passion stems from a deep-seeded hatred of New York City, aka urban America, with its unspoken undercurrents of racism and antisemitism. I'm not saying Yankee-haters are racist. But over the years, certain Yankees - Reggie, Sheffield, A-Rod - always served as the harshest lightning rods for anger. It wasn't a coincidence.

But it was the big Yankee money that folks claimed to hate most. The Yankees bought pennants. They stole free agents from small market teams, who couldn't afford them. They bullied the rest of baseball and operated with a different set of financial rules. This, of course, was bullshit. Some of the richest billionaires in the game owned teams in small markets like Minnesota and Kansas City. They could outbid any team for any player; they simply didn't care.

When the Yankees last ruled baseball - the great, late-90s teams under Joe Torre - who could rightfully hate the lineup? Bernie, O'Neill, Tino, and young versions of Mariano and Jeter... what to hate? After the Yankees added Giambi, Moose and A-Rod, anti-NY tempers came to a boil - it was the notion that an already great team was attracting stars who wanted to win rings. That's when the "Evil Empire" passions went crazy.

But really, folks... how do you assign such anger to this Yankee team? Where's the evil? 

Last year, the Yankees were embodied by Aaron Judge, a selfless rookie who went through a dramatic ascension of fame and then a hellish slump, and yet who never once ripped a sportswriter or flipped off a fan. He became the smiling face of baseball, and he's not even yet a millionaire. Or Didi Gregorius, who replaced a legend. Good luck in hating him, folks. Or Sanchez or Bird or Severino... tell me who is overpaid and arrogant? If there is a problem with the 2018 Yankees, it's that we fans fell in love with the concept of young and unblemished rookies rising through our system: we wanted Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres in the lineup. Not Neil Walker. But if that's he's high-priced free agent for 2018, seriously... is that your Evil Empire?

Of course, the reason for the venom these days is Giancarlo Stanton, and the fraudulent notion that the Yankees got him in a trade for next to nothing. (That, by the way, has been fed by the Yankees front office, wanting to look good.) The Yankees acquired Stanton because: 1) they were spurned by Shohei Ohtani, 2) the Marlins were obsessed with dumping his contract, 3) the Yankees gave up a solid starting second baseman in Starlin Castro and 4) they also gave up two top prospects, plucked from their farm system by the very guy who used to run it, Gary Denbo. If other fan bases are angry, it should be because their own franchises didn't jump in and offer the Marlins more. (Yes, he had a no-trade clause, but it had several cities on it.) Nobody did, because the Yankee offer was more substantial than most people want to believe.

So... how does anyone get off hating the Yankees? Muscle memory, I guess. Today, six teams have higher projected payrolls: Boston ($229 M), Washington ($201 M), San Francisco ($197 M), Cubs ($183 M), Houston ($182 M) and Dodgers ($179 M). You can look it up. Where's the evil? And where's the empire? They won the Wild Card last year, not the Division. And the Redsocks, who did win the AL East, just added the preeminent free agent slugger on the 2018 market, JD Martinez. Why is that different from the 2002 Yankees adding Giambi? Why isn't Boston being singled out for over-spending?

Well, we all know the answer. The real evil in pro sports is not uppity players being overpaid or failing to salute their flag-wrapped owners. It is franchises that willingly throw fan bases overboard, looking to tank for several seasons, so they can build powerhouse teams on the cheap. The system is designed for just such moves, and what everyone needs is one whipping mule team to hate, to blame for all misfortune, rather than focus on the greed and cynicism of the local franchise owner. That's why it's okay to hate the Evil Empire this year, and dammit, the sportswriters ought to address it.