I heard Sports Illustrated's Peter King on the radio Tuesday, talking about how terrible it is for baseball that every team in the NFL has a chance to win and that awful things will happen if baseball doesn't get a salary cap.

King mentioned that baseball has a different champion every year, but added that really didn't count for much in his opinion. (If he wasn't impressed that baseball has had eight different champions in nine years, King could have mentioned that 18 of MLB's 30 franchises have made the playoffs at least once the past three years and that the National League has had 10 different franchises win a pennant the past 11 years.)

Stop it, Peter. Football has an imbalance, too. Teams like the Redskins and Cowboys have much higher revenue streams and, therefore, are able to pay the large signing bonuses that attract free agents. Dallas and Washington don't win, either.

Money doesn't dictate everything; money doesn't increase the odds of winning. In the end, it's about doing it on the field when it counts.

We don't know what kind of TEAM these Yankees will be. We know they have talent. That's all we know.

Baseball has a huge revenue disparity, but the Yankees -- penalized by the luxury tax -- wrote a check of close to $27 million to the poorer teams this week. That money makes it easier for the Royals, Pirates, etc., to contend. If those owners choose to pocket those checks and show a profit, that's on them -- not the system.

Teams have to take different avenues to contending. Virtually every team must build through scouting and player development. There are no shortcuts for these teams.

Maybe the rules are different for the Yankees, but when is the last time they won anything?

The Yankees have made themselves the December favorite, but they've added a bunch of guys without real October resumes.

Let's see how it plays out. The Yankees did become a lot more interesting this week, and so did baseball.

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A high-ranking MLB -- not Selig, by the way -- once told me, "There are owners that would like to see the Yankees win every year."

"You mean 'contend' every year," I said.

"No," he said, "win. The World Series. They believe it raises the water level for everyone."

TV ratings for the Red Sox and Cubs are decent. The Dodgers still do well. The Giants, Tigers and Cardinals have a following around the country.

But nothing is as good for baseball as having the Yankees playing deep into October. They're like the Dallas Cowboys in that way. When they're on TV, more people tend to watch.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the season to begin to see how it's going to play out on the field. That's the important part. That's the part the Yankees can't buy.

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