Earlier today, I compared second basemen Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia.

While watching the Boston Red Sox versus New York Yankees (a real laugher, by the way) game this afternoon on Fox, though, I began to compare the two rivals' entire infields in my head and was just amazed at how much stronger the New York four is. Clearly, the Yankees have a fine infield, with two of the most recognizable stars in the game, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, making up the left side of a group flanked by Cano and Mark Teixeira. It really does not take a rocket scientist to understand how talented of a group that is.

To determine the exact level of excellence of the New York infield, though, I went over to FanGraphs to take a look at how each player grades out in Wins Above Replacement (WAR). The four infielders, who all rank in the top four in the stat on the Yankees, have combined to amass 14.8 WAR. Which is just incredible.

As I wrote the other day, Jeter is having one of the finest campaigns of his career at age 35. He leads the club with 5.5 WAR, having posted a line of .333/.396/.474 with 15 home runs and a 128 OPS+. He has also played much better defense, grading out 5.6 runs above average at shortstop.

The biggest free agent offensive acquisition of the winter, Teixeira has rebounded from a slow start to post a line of .286/.384/.559 with 31 homers, 92 RBIs and a 144 OPS+. The switch-hitting slugger is second on New York with 4.0 WAR, though his -0.8 UZR could be suffering from some noise in the data. He is not a realistic M.V.P. candidate--as Jeter has been the more valuable player on his own team--but he has been a tremendous addition and a major upgrade over Jason Giambi.

Rodriguez, 33, missed the first six weeks due to injury but has continued to put up incredible statistics since his return. He is batting .263/.398/.505 with 21 home runs, 65 RBIs and a 135 OPS+. Despite the fact that he has played in only 89 games and has provided below-average defense at third base, he has already produced 3.0 WAR.

I touched on Cano earlier, but he is also having a fine rebound performance. He has put up 2.8 WAR, thanks to a .311/.343/.499 line and 118 OPS+. Plate discipline remains an issue for the sweet-swinging left-handed hitter, but he has continued to display plus power for a middle infielder (18 home runs) and has been a major asset for the Yankees.

Certainly, the Steinbrenners spent a ton on the aforementioned players. A-Rod is due to make $32-M, Jeter and Teixeira will each net $20-M and Cano is being paid $9-M for 2009. For those scoring at home, that adds up to $81-M, or more than the entire payrolls for 15 teams in the sport.

Are they all worth it, though?

Jeter has exceeded his salary on a dollars earned/made scale by a considerable amount, as his WAR translates to $24.6-M. Teixeira should get to that point before the season is done, too, as he has already been worth $18.1-M with a little over a month to go. Rodriguez has provided $12.7-M of production, which would be higher had he been healthy all year. Cano has outperformed his paycheck as well, having been worth $11.3-M.

Overall, a group that cost $81-M has been worth $60-M, representing negative value. However, New York, with its financial muscle, is the one team that can afford to over pay that much and still benefit. The Steinbrenner doctrine is to win the World Series at all costs, and, with a talented infield like they run out every night, it could very well end up happening.

Indeed, the cost of those four players was expensive. Those four players are excellent and make up the best infield in the majors, though, and it is not particularly close. Thus, while there is no surplus value, the money was definitely well spent.