Many Yankee detractors automatically point to the organization's ridiculous ($206 million) player payroll and say the team simply bought the 2009 baseball world championship. But, if you take a close look, the Yankees also showed some nifty techniques that could easily be pulled out of the realm of baseball and used for success elsewhere. Tech companies, in particular, could learn a few things from how the Yankees approached this season and translate it into success in their world:

1. So what if you're tired? The Yankees' starting pitching rotation of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte defeated the defending World Champions by each pitching on three-days rest, rather than the standard four-days rest most teams use. Even tired, the team's top talent was better than that of other teams. The take-away? During crunch time (say the end of the quarter or the last few weeks before a product launch), the important players need to step up and just do what needs to be done. There will be time for rest later.

2. Everybody on the team is important. Alex Rodriguez only had a few hits in the World Series for the Yankees, and he is arguably the team's best hitter. So how did they win without him hitting a lot? Other guys stepped up, whether they made $20 million a year (Sabathia) or a lot less (Jerry Hairston Jr.). At a tech company, the lead developer can be just as important as the Southeast Regional Director of Marketing.

3. Don't worry if the rules or objectives change. Just meet them. I wasn't the only one who noticed the umpires were absolutely horrible during this year's baseball post-season. In particular, home plate umpires seemed to change their strike zone every other pitch. It was absolutely dreadful. But the Yankees and Phillies both tried to make the best of it. Pitchers tried to adjust their locations. Hitters tried to lock in and focus even more. Even though the strike zones were abominable, there were very few player complaints after the games. The players just dealt with it. Intel, Microsoft and other companies seem to continually face changing antitrust rules and priorities, yet both companies have remained market-share leaders for decades. They adapt to change. Other tech companies will succeed if they can figure out how to do that as well.

4. Having Kate Hudson as your girlfriend doesn't hurt. A-Rod's lady friend was at all the games, cheering on her man, even though she looked like she knew about as much about baseball as A-Rod knows about acting. The point: A-Rod wasn't afraid to let everybody know he had real support in his corner for every inning of every game. He showed her off. It certainly took a lot of attention and conversation away from A-Rod's, er, less positive talking points. Tech companies need to do a better job, sometimes, of bragging about their customer wins, their alliances and their market support. The bigger companies do it all the time (IBM sends out a press release almost every day bragging about its customer wins and support in the market.) Others could learn from it.

5. Don't be afraid to spend in tough times. Even though New York was at the heart of the world economic meltdown last year, the Yankees finished building a $1.5 billion stadium and then spent almost $500 million on free agent players. The team also spends top dollar on training facilities, trainers, marketing, its own TV network and more. How is the team rewarded? Forbes placed the team's valuation at $1.3 billion before the new stadium opened, with about $350 million in annual revenue. The team's top line and bottom line are both expected to grow in a down economy and the marketing potential, alone, after winning a World Series is inordinately lucrative. The team aggressively reinvests in product quality. The top revenue-producing companies in technology all spend higher rates than average on R&D, in good times and bad, as well. Complain all you want about the Yankees' spending and player salaries. They're the ones being fitted with championship rings today.

There will be some time for reflection over this year's baseball season. Pitchers and catchers report in 16 weeks.