I have an issue to bring up with all NON-Yankees fans spanning the world. I noticed, anytime you bring up the Yankees to a fan of another team, you get ,"They buy Championships". Why is that you ask? I have an idea, JEALOUSY! It could be from the old days, but who really knows why they say that. Before free agency teams were home grown or made through trades. A trade is not buying anything it is a TRADE! So that brings me to my point. Last year the Yankees had 22 HOME grown players play at some point during the year. They had 9 position players and 13 Pitchers. 5 of those 9 being starters - Jeter, Cano, Melky, Gardner and Posada.  Of our pitchers I can firmly say that 5 of them were main contributers to #27 - Pettitte, MO, Joba, Hughes and Coke. Ok so now yes 2 of our top 3 starting pitchers came from free agency....BUT....the Red Sox had 2 also, so did the Mets, Dodgers, Rays, Cubs, Phillies and so on. Now this year we have 20 players so far that are home grown. It all starts with the Core Four. Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte and Posada, those 4 guys are what has won our last 5 World Series Championships. We built our team around four of the greatest HOME GROWN players in the game today, possibly the best quartet ever! If you were to take Jeter and Mo and put them away for a year the Yankees are going to hit rock bottom! The 80's are over people! The Yankees woke up in 1990 and once again looked within. Go back to 1998 7 position players and 10 pitchers, 6 of those being Major players - Jeter, Bernie, Posada, Pettitte and Mo. I didn't count Irabu or O.Hernandez since they were undrafted signings but you could say Hernandez was home grown. My point is this I am so tired of people talking about the Yankees bought the World Series that I would prove once and for all that the Yankees are not buying anything! Yes they sign free agents, so does everyone else. How is it the Yankees fault when the Pirates trade away their whole team - Nady, Bay, Mclouth, Laroche, Marte and so on. The Royals spend money, the Red Sox spend money, the Mets, Cubs, Cards, White Sox, Dodgers, Rockies, Angels, Rangers and Orioles spend money. The Marlins, Rays and Twins are winning and not spending. It is not about who you sign or trade for. It is about putting 25 guys on a roster and 9 on the field that play as a team plain and simple! You can sign any free agent you want it does not mean you are going to win. Bad trades and bad signings and you end up like last years Pirates and Nationals. Stop your bitching Yankee Haters, The Yankees are the Best team in HISTORY and they have the BEST FANS IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!