Letter of the day for Nov. 9, 2009: Don't blame the Yankees; it's baseball that's broken

By Aron Kahn and St. Paul

Last update: November 8, 2009 - 1:44 PM

Zillions of people outside New York truly abhor the new World Series champion Yankees, in large part because of their player payroll. But the Yankees are not the enemy. They are the product of everyone around them. Most teams would spend like the Yankees if they had the revenue. Baseball owners, like all business owners, want to pay expenses out of revenue, not from their own pockets. The Pohlads, who own the Twins, are wealthier than the Steinbrenners, who own the Yankees, but their payroll is lower because their revenue is lower. Boosting revenue is the reason why the Twins fought 11 years for a new ballpark. They wanted a cable network for the same reason, but lost a battle with cable companies who didn't want to share the wealth. The point is, Major League Baseball could have an effective revenue-sharing system and a strong salary cap that would help neutralize the Yankees' big-money advantage, but MLB owners won't vote for the former and the players (who have the strongest union in sports) won't agree to the latter. Those are the same players whom fans adore, but with rare exceptions (such as Kirby Puckett) do not share the same loyalty with their devoted followers. It's business first, World Series second. Whether you think that's right or wrong, it's the way it works in Major League Baseball.

ARON KAHN, ST. PAUL

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