Can someone explain to me...?

Why do so many people criticize the Yankees for spending so much money? Sure, the Yankees obviously do spend a lot of money on their team, but it is completely within the rules, so why do so many people continue to complain about it and hate the Yankees for it?

If the NFL suddenly changed the rules so that teams were allowed five downs to pick up a first down rather than four (yes, I know, bad example), how could someone possibly justify complaining so much about a team using all five downs to the point that they were basically calling it cheating?

In essence, that's what it's like with the complaints about the Yankees payroll. The Yankees are taking advantage of the fact that they are allowed to spend a lot of money. I just don't see what's wrong with that. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that, for the most part, higher payroll=better team (obviously there are exceptions to this rule, but I think it holds true the majority of the time). So what's wrong with a team's owner trying to make their team more competitive by signing players to big contracts? Other owners have the ability to do this, as well. Maybe not to the extent that The Boss does it, but they can still spend a lot of money. They would just rather pocket it for themselves. If anything, people should be upset with the rule, not the Yankees.

And what really irritates me is the following situation. I find out someone's favorite team is the Red Sox. Now, that does annoy me, somewhat, but they have every right to be a Red Sox fan, just as much as I have the right to be a Yankees fan. The part that really annoys me is when I ask why they like the Red Sox, and they respond, "Because I hate the Yankees for spending too much money."
NOT ACCEPTABLE!
Now, if you like the Red Sox for some other reason, then I can understand that, but how can someone like them for the reason above???!!! First of all, I am usually against people liking something simply because they dislike its opposite. But to take it this far is absolutely absurd. It's not like the Red Sox are struggling to survive in MLB, desperately searching for more money. I'd say they spend quite a bit of cash, as well. So if you're going to hate the Yankees because of their payroll (which I think is wrong in and of itself), why not like the Marlins, Devil Rays, or Nationals?

And another thing: take a look at some of the players produced by the Yankees farm system.
Derek Jeter
Mariano Rivera
Melky Cabrera
Robinson Cano
Phil Hughes
Joba Chamberlain
Shelley Duncan

There are many more, not to mention recently retired players like Bernie Williams

I could be wrong, but I don't think there are many (if any) other teams that can match that quality of players who came up in their farm system. So it's not as like the Yankees just have a lineup full of signed free agents.

That's all I've got to say for now.

Thanks for reading!


P.S. To see a video in which a team actually does receive five downs, go to the following link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZQJT8q0MMwQ

The five downs start at about the 2:55 mark.