Another Excerpt From Joe Torre's "The Yankee Years"

"This," he said, "is as good as any team I've ever had, and as good as any team I've ever seen. There's never been anyone better." —Page 66

The debate continues to this day regarding the best baseball team of all time. I know the 1927, '39, and '98 Yankee teams are all in the mix. However, Baseball Almanac has the 1927 Yankees as the best team of all time, using an explicit formula.

Do you agree?

Tom Verducci followed Steinbrenner's quote with a very clear summary of the 1998 team:

"It was never as good as it was in 1998, not with the near-perfect composition of the roster, the peak-age talent, and the singular mindset of 25 grinders rolled into 125 victories. A desperation to win. That is what made them so historic." —Page 66

My immediate reaction was recognizing just how far the Yanks have veered off the track of compiling a team of winners.

The book talks a lot about the unselfishness of all 25 players on that team. Even when a player would have a great game, it wouldn't mean anything if they lost.

Winning was all that mattered.  

I guarantee nobody can say with a straight face that Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, or CC Sabathia only have winning on their minds. These are players that would fight between a $160 million contract and a $161 million contract.

They chose to play for the highest bidder. If the Nationals had bid an extra million per year on any of these guys, they would be playing in Washington D.C. Winning is the furthest thing from their minds.