Before the season--heck, before every season--the irresponsible among the baseball media like to tell us that half to three-quarters of the teams in baseball have no hope of contending or reaching the playoffs. Most readers of Baseball Prospectus know that this isn't true, regardless of their opinions on the state of parity in baseball. But it's interesting to note now just how false it is.

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"Hello?"

"Carl?"

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The latest is a real classic: John Henry, new owner of the Florida Marlins and perhaps holder of the world record for the fastest case of buyer's remorse, is now threatening another fire sale of the team's best players because his team is losing money. Here's an excerpt from the AP article:

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I speak specifically of the Yankees, whose luck-drenched run at the top appears likely to end despite the golden opportunity presented to them by the Red Sox, who can't seem to stay healthy or excise the deadwood from their lineup.

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Minnesotans for Major League Baseball member Thomas Lang weighed in on last week's The Imbalance Sheet by pointing me to that committee's report on the Twins' stadium situation:

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Sometimes, readers make this job much easier. Here's an email from Cris Enestvedt, regarding the stadium situation in Minnesota.

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The whining and threatening have already begun. Florida's legislature made a small gesture to try to restore the state's credibility this week by telling Marlins owner John Henry to stuff his $140 million funding request up his... well, up his John Henry. Now even the Wall Street Journal, a newspaper generally known for sensible business writing, has fallen prey to MLB's rantings about competitive imbalance and how baseball simply can't survive in Miami without a stadium with a retractable roof, valet parking, and a new pair of diamond earrings.

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Recently, I had the chance to speak extensively with Brad Humphreys, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Humphreys has spent several years researching the true economic impact of sports teams, particularly on the debate over the merits of publicly funding new facilities for privately-owned sports franchises. His most recent work, The Stadium Gambit and Local Economic Development, debunked many of the common myths about the economic impact of new sports stadia.

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Two weeks ago, the Cincinnati Reds undid perhaps the best part of last July's trade in which they sent a broken-down Denny Neagle to the Yankees for four prospects, one of which was erstwhile college football star Drew Henson. Henson's situation illustrates a problem far more important for competitive balance than disparities in the free-agent market: the vast differences in amateur and international signing budgets.

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Czar Bud has issued a gag order on his fellow owners, and despite Selig's relative lack of power, the owners have so far decided to abide by the edict and clam up. The taboo subject? The impending labor talks and possible work stoppage that currently loom over the 2002 season.

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The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have done a lot of things right this winter, from not spending millions on additional veteran mediocrities to turning nominal closer Roberto Hernandez into a great young hitter who has already been locked up into his arbitration years (Ben Grieve). But they could be on the verge of making a decision that looks to be the wrong one from both the baseball and business perspectives: giving Josh Hamilton the starting right-field job.

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