Los Angeles Dodgers v New York Yankees / New York Yankees/GettyImages

You know how you know the New York Yankees are back? Because we’re being inundated with 50 of the saddest varietals and derivations of baseball’s essential take: it’s not even fair. It’s so easy for them. Their payroll … it is big!

Ignore the 15 years between 2009 and 2024 where the Yankees did not reach the World Series. Those were the outlier seasons. Those were pathetic. Now, after a 15-year gap of bad data, we’ve officially returned to the base reality we’re all accustomed to. There’s just no fighting City Hall. The Yankees are automatic, except when they aren’t which, again, I am ignoring to fire off my very tired point.

This October, of course, there’s a new wrinkle involved to express that owners utilizing their financial might in order to gain competitive edges are actually the baddies: the Dodgers joining the fray on the National League side. More billionaire owners should be sitting on their profits and shirking their civic duties. They are the good ones. The fact that two high-spending, star-stocked teams are facing off for the ultimate prize shouldn’t be more incentive for the rest of the league. It should motivate other teams to give up, and/or die!

(Teams that go the extra mile to win come home victorious) Why would you embarrass the Pirates by trying? Not fair!

Yankees Payroll vs. Dodgers Deferrals to Face off in World Series (also, MLB’s brightest stars)

“I don’t blame the Yankees for spending,” says person blaming the Yankees for spending, while acting like 9.5 years with the Chicago Cubs — prior to being traded — is an abhorrently unfair amount of time for Anthony Rizzo to have spent with his “small-market team” (the Cubs’ payroll is $244 million, eighth highest in baseball). Not everything is an example of a deteriorating society. Some things are simply … things that happened. They’re just stuff.

The Dodgers did get frustratingly creative with their payroll during this particular offseason, absorbing both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto because of Ohtani’s deferrals, lowering their annual tax payment in the process. That is aggravating, and aggrieved outsiders can’t help but feel like the books were somewhat cooked. Still, it’s a similar variety of the creativity that allowed Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to continue moving money around annually in the name of winning. The Dodgers also spent luxuriously all offseason and still ended up short on starting pitchers, running out “bullpen games” repeatedly in NLDS and NLCS action. Even for the rich teams, roster construction is hard.

And, again, your view of the “rich teams” is skewed by bias. Some of you have bought into the lie that little old Cleveland simply cannot match the financial domination of the Yankees and their gigantic pockets and their monstrous britches (big old pants). In fact, the Dolan Family — a group New Yorkers known all too well for James’ meddling with the Knicks and laissez faire approach to the Rangers — owns the Guardians, too (led by Paul Dolan, James’ cousin and a fellow Cablevision Nepo Boss). The ownership group is worth $4.6 billion. That’s the fourth-richest ownership cabal in baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays are owned by the second-richest! They love to complain about being stuck with the Yankees, but folks, Hal Steinbrenner is 10th on this list.

Instead of whining about the Yankees and Dodgers, tell your billionaires to do their fair share and reward your passion.

Oh, and one more thing, for those who’ve noted that you “won’t watch” this year’s World Series because the Yankees’ and Dodgers’ financial influence obscure the joy of seeing Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge’s breathless star power on the biggest stage: did you watch the Yankees and Red Sox face off in the 2004 ALCS, by any chance? Feel like a lot of folks watched that and rooted very strongly for the Red Sox.

That October, the Yankees and Sox owned the top two payrolls in all of baseball. Seems like you just do not like the Yankees. It’s ok. You can say it out loud.