16-Year World Series Drought For the New York Yankees Explained
The 16-year World Series drought for the Yankees is explained in this article. There are three causes for the Yankees’ 16-year World Series drought. People did not like the Yankees winning every year. So, things started to change around 1970. First, Major League Baseball held its first draft in 1965. Drafts, from that time, were in reverse order of record.
The second major change that has caused the Yankees’ 16-year World Series drought is free agency. Third, revenue sharing (also called the luxury tax) has been all the rage in baseball for about the last 30 years, and has helped cause the Yankees’ 16-year World Series drought. Are other teams affected by these rules?
16-Year World Series Drought For the Yankees and the MLB Draft
Major League Baseball had its first draft in 1965. Drafts, from that time, were in reverse order of record. Bad teams picked first. There have been various rules over time regarding who could get drafted. Currently, the draft covers Americans, and teams get a fixed amount of international bonus pool money to sign foreign (usually Latin) players. Teams can, and do, currently trade international bonus pool money.
The specific rules of the draft do not matter. The salient point is that the draft is in the reverse order of record. Thus, bad teams always have access to the best prospects. This has been the case since 1965. Some draft picks flame out, but some are as good as advertised. In this way, bad teams get better. The institution of the draft hurt the Yankees’ dominance. The winning in baseball, since 1965, has evened out.
16-Year World Series Drought For the Yankees and MLB Free Agency
Free Agency started in baseball with the Supreme Court case of Curt Flood. Flood challenged the legality of baseball’s reserve clause, which basically said that the teams owned players for their entire career. It is why Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle were Yankees for their entire career. Flood had his Supreme Court case heard in 1972. The court ruled on his case in his favor and struck down the reserve clause in Major League Baseball. There could now be free agents in Major League Baseball.
This did not have an immediate effect on the dominance of the Yankees. In fact, the Yankees signed several big free agents early on, and this helped them win the World Series in 1977 and 1978 and go to the World Series in 1976 and 1981. However, the Yankees can lose players too (see Juan Soto). Since players can now go to the highest bidder for their services, they can leave good teams and go to middle-of-the-road or bad teams. There is no question that free agency has hurt the Yankees at times.
MLB Revenue Sharing
Third, revenue sharing has been all the rage in baseball for about the last 30 years. The rules have shifted somewhat over time. However, the important point is that rich teams, like the Yankees, give money to poor teams, like the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yankee fans sometimes complain that money is given to poor teams to do nothing. That may be true, but the steady flow of cash from the Yankees to the other teams in the league has hurt them.
Right now, there are luxury tax thresholds for the total salary of players. On a team like the Yankees, they are always over the first threshold and usually over the second one. Thus, they are forced to pay a tax. Yankee Owner Hal Steinbrenner has said that the Yankees cannot, and will not, go over the third, and final, luxury tax threshold. This constrains what the Yankees can do.
Conclusion
So, the Yankees lost in the playoffs again. They now have a 16 Year World Series drought. As disappointing as this is, there are some reasons why the Yankees no longer dominate teams. In fact, teams are no longer scared of playing at Yankee Stadium. Red Sox Manager Alex Cora said his team likes playing at Yankee Stadium. This is the way it will be going forward. The Yankees will be very good in 2026, but it might not matter.
