Soapbox Moment for the Day: I really don't care about the World Series at all and won't be impressed in the least when the Yankees win it. They have a payroll $52 million higher than the next closest team, they SHOULD win it. A-Rod, Jeter, and Teixeira combine to make more per year than 13 different clubs' entire rosters... And before the Yankees fans start hollering that "it's not our fault other team's won't spend the money" and "if your team did it, you wouldn't care", you're dead wrong. My team is the 5th highest payroll in the league (though still only about half of what the Yankees spend) and I don't like it. The fact is, baseball is broken. Why do you think the same clubs (and sure, a few change each year, but mostly it's the same) are in the playoffs year after year? The big market teams can shell out the money for free agents and MANY other teams simply cannot. Why are the Pirates, Royals, Orioles, Reds, etc always near the bottom? They simply can't dish out $20 million + per player. Meanwhile the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, and Phillies are back year after year. The whole system sucks and the game has become increasingly more tainted because of it. Forget steroids, this is the biggest problem in baseball as far as I'm concerned.

And yes, I'm fully aware they still have to play the game and that if this were strictly true, the Yankees would win every year, but year in and year out it's the same teams at the top competing for it with a handful of midrange teams thrown in the mix. Unsurprisingly I was able to pick all 6 division winners before the year even started because there is no true competition. Money buys you wins in baseball with few exceptions... the ineptitude of the Mets and Cubs aside. Baseball was already low on my totem pole of entertaining sports, but it just sinks more and more with each passing year.