The Biz of Baseball had an article on voices on the state of the game, and perhaps it was the inner economist in me speaking, but I thought Rodney Fort’s was the most interesting and best observation:
Arguments over revenue sharing, the luxury tax, and the possibility of a salary cap take this monopoly power as given and only account for the interests of fans of existing teams. The more in-depth look at MLB’s unfettered control over team location includes the interests of all fans, including those currently without teams.
Which brings me back to an old point I like to keep drumming home: there needs to be a third NY metropolitan area team. Put it in Brooklyn, put it in North Jersey - anywhere it’s placed probably would address a lot of balance issues. I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as Fort in suggesting splitting the leagues to compete with one another, but the ability of owners to block new entrants into their markets (as Peter Angelos seemed to want to do with the Nationals) is pretty much anti-market, and not very good for competitive balance.