It's good to know that the Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox and Mariners are doing big business this winter. That means four teams seem serious about being the best they can be, which would be a titillating thought if we were talking college basketball in April. But we're not. Major League Baseball is a 30-team enterprise, and, once again, we're left with the sort of competitive imbalance that basically eliminates two dozen teams from World Series title consideration weeks before pitchers and catchers report. I realize that this sport has been hit by the recession, too, but I also suspect some franchise owners are using the economic crisis as a convenient reason to cut costs and corners when, in truth, they have the money to make improvements. There is a dirty word for this collective financial inertia.
Collusion.




