Certainly true. I guess my only point was that paying those outrageous numbers is what causes the team to be bad, which is why free agents demand the premium in the first place. So it's a self-propagating cycle. Free agency came into baseball in 1976. http://baseball.about.com/od/majorleaguebasics/a/freeagentprimer.htm
Sorry, I guess what I was referring to was I read one time about how the reserve clause came about. The players in the 1800's began 'revolving' changing teams like crazy, even in the middle of seasons sometimes. Don't know why I completely forgot about the reserve clause. But I do know that players were still traded quite often during this period, but that's besides the point.
2 of the 3 teams you cited as "always being good" didn't make the playoffs last season. 1 of them finished below .500. meanwhile, the Tampa Rays finished with the best record in the AL having the 21st highest payroll in MLB...and the AL champ, Texas Rangers, had the 27th highest payroll. Of the top 10 payrolls in the league last season, only 3 made the playoffs. Again, I'm not saying the capacity for a higher payroll isn't a huge advantage. It is an advantage. But clearly it isn't the whole story.
Let's use this decade as this is the decade most reflective of each league's most recent CBA. (2000 season-2009 season) MLB: Yankees- missed playoffs 1 time, been to 4 WS, won 2 Red Sox- missed playoffs 5 times, been to 2 WS, won 2 Combined: Won 4 titles NFL: Patriots- Missed the playoffs 3 times, been to the SB 4 times, won 3 Colts: missed playoffs 1 time, been to superbowl twice, won once Combined: Won 4 titles Alternative: Steelers- missed playoffs 4 times, been to 2 SB, won 2 Combined titles would be 5 NBA: Lakers- missed the playoffs one time, been to 6 NBA finals, won 4 times Spurs- Haven't missed the playoffs, been to 3 NBA finals, won 3 times Combined: Won 9 titles The truth is, of the three leagues, MLB has been dominated LESS by the two top teams than the other two major professional leagues.
