The snow is flying, but still baseball talk is in the air.

Well, at least, it is in New York and Boston and the other big markets. I really can't stand the fact that every winter meeting, it has become, who is the Red Sox or Yankees or Angels going to fleece to add another piece to an already-loaded roster.

Johan Santana should be a Twins pitcher for life. He is good, the Twins are good, but there is no chance he is staying. And that is wrong. Same goes with C.C. Sabathia. Why should he have to go somewhere else to get market value?

It can be said that under Bud Selig's watch that baseball revenue has gone from $1 billion to $6 billion, you know, it is on steroids, too, but it can also be said that more than ever the game is all about what market you are in.

The Indians should be looking at a long run of success with the talent they have. Instead, the team has to prepare for the inevitable loss of talent through no fault of its own.

Revenue sharing is nice, and some teams do wrongly pocket the proceeds instead of putting back in the product, but it doesn't make the game about who can evaluate talent and who can produce on the field.

Theo Epstein is a good GM for the Red Sox, but he isn't great like some have anointed him. He has a huge safety net. If he makes a bad signing or bad trade, he can sweep it under the rug and it doesn't matter. If Mark Shapiro or Neal Huntingdon make bad moves, it can set the franchise back a couple of seasons.

You can say it is capitalism or the American way if you want, but you can also say it is why baseball is no longer America's Pastime.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.