Open Thread: Team of the Decade

We’ve already had a bunch of “________ of the decade” talk around here, so let’s keep it going with Team of the Decade. Noted Yankee-hater Jim Caple managed to put his personal biases aside in favor of common sense, dubbing the Bombers the decade’s best squad in a piece for the four-letter. Allow my to quote:

No other team is close. No matter the criteria, the Yankees come out on top. The Yankees won the first World Series of the decade, and they won the last. They played in two others. They won their division eight times and reached the postseason nine times. They won 45 games more than the nearest team. They had some of the greatest players in history (Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Derek Jeter). They had the decade’s best closer (Mariano Rivera) and some of the best starters (Clemens, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte). They opened the most expensive stadium in history and were so good, fans paid $2,500 for a ticket to see them. Well, a couple of fans did.

And the Yankees not only spent more freely than a targeted congressman in an election year (nearly $1.9 billion in combined payroll), but they grew so ravenous that they started stealing two bases at once.

Had the Yankees lost to the Phillies in the World Series, well then you have a debate on your hands. You’ve got the Red Sox with two World Championships, one division title, and five Wildcard berths, then there’s the Phillies with two titles and three division crowns, and don’t forget the Cards with one World Championship, two pennants, six division titles, and another Wildcard appearance. The Yanks would have ended up with one championship, three pennants, eight division crowns, and another Wildcard win.

So, in this hypothetical situation, who would you consider the team of the decade? I think I’d go with Boston because of their edge in playoff appearances. They also won 70 more games than the Phightin’s during the decade, and beat the Cards in the ’04 Fall Classic. If you want to look a little deeper, the Yanks had the best run differential (+1,273) of the four teams, followed by Boston (+1,198), St. Louis (891), and Philadelphia (+479). What do you think?

Use this thread to chat about that, or whatever else you want. The unbeaten Colts and the six-time beaten Jaguars play at 8:20pm ET, though you need the NFL Network to watch that one. The Knickerbockers are in Chicago, while the Rangers and Isles wrap up their home-and-home series tonight. Anything goes, just be cool.