Beauty of this insanity would be Yanks' failure

The New York Yankees have gone eight seasons without winning a World Series and five years without playing in one. Their streak of playoff seasons ended at 13 last fall.

The Yankees' response has been to guarantee $423.5 million over the next eight years to three players: first baseman Mark Teixeira and pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.

And the response to this has been panic -- with even the huge-spending Boston Red Sox joining the woe-are-we cacophony.

There also have been the e-mailers and blog respondents declaring they are officially finished with baseball until a salary cap is imposed to create equitable competition. These folks are either bluffing, or they are football fans interested in taking a shot at the grand old game.

Mark me down as a hardball hardcore who has been enjoying the Yankees' desperation. From here, it's knee-slapping humor to discover that the next generation of Steinbrenners might be even wackier than The Boss when it comes to burning money.

The Yankees' latest dynasty was for the eight seasons from 1996 through 2003. They played in six World Series and won four.

Gene Michael created the foundation for this in the early '90s when he was in full charge of the baseball operation. That's because Steinbrenner was banned for 2 1/2 years because of his underhanded dealings with Dave Winfield.

The Boss was back in 1993 and Michael became an adviser, but developing players and spending the big bucks on pitchers stuck as the approach for several years.

There were exceptions, such as making the Chuck Knoblauch trade with the Twins in 1998, but it wasn't until 2002 that Steinbrenner returned fully to his old ways.

He signed Jason Giambi away from the Oakland A's, then the Yankees' top challenger in the American League. Giambi departed after last season, with a $5 million buyout that left his résumé in New York at $120 million received, no championships and a steroids scandal.

Two years after Giambi, George pushed aside Boston and acquired Alex Rodriguez from Texas. That move coincides with the Yankees avoiding the World Series for five years.

Rodriguez collected $120 million for those five seasons, with $247 million guaranteed over nine more years -- until the summer he turns 42.

Henry should remember what happened the last time the Yankees tried this. Then, he would be laughing, not complaining.

The Red Sox trailed the Yankees 26-0 in World Series victories in the 84 played from 1919 through 2003. Then, New York stole A-Rod, and Boston leads 2-0 in World Series victories since then.

Teixeira is a nice hitter, but having a gaudy lineup card hasn't been the Yankees' problem. It has been pitching -- thin in starters and mediocre relief in front of closer Mariano Rivera.

That's why the Yankees spent enormous millions for Sabathia and Burnett, but we have to ask:

Is Sabathia going to outdo the 20-9 with a 3.37 ERA of retired ace Mike Mussina? And will Burnett, with 65 missed starts from 2003 through 2007, retain a healthy right arm for a second full season in a row?

A-Rod and Robinson Cano are due a combined $8 million in raises, putting the Yankees at $189 million for 15 players.

Throw in arbitration awards and the bodies needed for the rest of the roster, and surpassing last season's $222 million should not be a problem for Hank and Hal, George's wacky offspring.

And for all this, it wouldn't be a shock if what the Yankees get is another third-place finish in the AL East behind Tampa Bay and Boston.

We can all hope that -- and that's what makes baseball so grand:

If our favorite club is an also-ran, we have a team to root for just as intently in whoever is playing the Yankees.