The Yankees didn't win the World Series this year, or last year, or the year before. They haven't added to their 27 championships since 2009. For any other sports franchise, that wouldn't really be anything to panic about (the Mets, by the way, would probably be thrilled to be in this situation), but for the Yankees, this has been an existential crisis. This 16-year dry spell is now the second-longest gap between championships since their first championship in 1923.
Outside of beating the Red Sox in the playoffs this year (EAT SHIT, BILL DE BLASIO), the vibes are pretty rotten, with an aging core; farm system call-ups who have been busts; and an owner, Hal Steinbrenner, and general manager who appear to be totally satisfied with players who never quite pull it off despite having the fourth-highest payroll in the MLB last year. So now is definitely not the time to call attention to the enormous amount of public subsidies that help keep the family that owns the Yankees enormously wealthy, right?
Well, if that's how you thought, then you wouldn't be Hal Steinbrenner, who ran his mouth about it on a call with reporters on Monday.
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