BatDad sent on an interesting article from The Wall Street Journal, Baseball's Critics Are Blaming the Wrong Millionaire (log-in required). The thrust of the matter: Why blame George Steinbrenner? He just wants to win, while Carl Pohlad, apparently, does not. (The blame-worthy millionaire seems to be Bud Selig, which makes Batgirl happy.)
...It's not that the Red Sox couldn't afford A-Rod. Like several other major-league owners, including several in the so-called small markets, the Red Sox bosses have personal wealth far greater than Mr. Steinbrenner's. Unlike Mr. Steinbrenner, they seem loath to risk their own money on their teams.Why should they when they get welfare from the Yankees? The Yankees could be paying out as much as $75 million in revenue sharing and luxury tax this year. Between that, the payroll and other team costs, the Yankees began this season not knowing whether they would show a profit. All Mr. Steinbrenner wants to do is win.
One of the absurdities of the current system is that it rewards some of the wealthiest men in the country for not investing in their own baseball business. For instance, the payroll of the Minnesota Twins, owned by billionaire Carl Polhad, ranks 23rd out of 30 teams. Mr. Polhad isn't required to spend any of the money given to him by the Major League Baseball central fund on players' salaries. He is required to spend it on team improvements; the catch is that those team improvements are defined by the commissioner, himself a former owner.
Baseball's critics are right: There is a ridiculous imbalance in baseball spending. But it hasn't been caused by Mr. Steinbrenner. It's been caused by a system created by men who, in the words of the former players' union head Marvin Miller, "pay lip service to competition and free enterprise, and shudder when they see it in action."
All George Steinbrenner wants to do is win.