So let me get this straight....just so I get where you are coming from....Becuase they have averaged almost or around 4 million, that makes them a success. Financially, yeah. I mean then the same can be said about the Cubs, Red Sox, Dodgers, Braves, Phillies...ALL the BIG MARKET team. Just because you have success in the pocket, does not mean AUTOMATIC success on the field. To me, the Yankees are like Notre Dame football....just about every year, they get the best of the best....and yet wen was the last time they won a World Series? The Yankee organization and their fans do not measure success by having the most fans or making the playoffs every year, they measure by World Championships....and if I remember correct....we live in the world of "what have you don lately"....
As far as Sabathia, don't get me wrong, he is without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best pitchers in the game. But NO STARING pitcher, in my opinion...is worth that much....much less an every day player.
First off, you paint 'Yankee fans' in much too broad a stroke by putting them all into the same basket. There are some that view success as ONLY winning the World Series - but that would be a big minority of fans. As I have already stated (this being my opinion as a die-hard yankee fan) I say they have had success ON THE FIELD proven by the fact that they had a run of 13 STRAIGHT YEARS making post-season. Something that only the BRAVES in your list above also did (they did it 14 straight I believe) - even with huge payrolls (Mets, RedSox, Dodgers). Not to say that every year the GOAL is to win the World Series (but I think that is also true of EVERY team).
Only a FOOLISH fan would expect a team to be able to win the World Series every year. It is an unrealistic expectation. But in my lifetime (57 years old) my team has been in the Fall CLassic 20 times, winning 12 of them. Pretty good huh? That's how THIS Yankee fan views the team's success.
As far as how much money is too much - yep, atheletes make more than they are worth. But it is a business, and as such it is what it is. Let me ask you this one though - if it was YOU that was this gifted athelete - would you take less than you could get? I don't think so.