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I do not buy your arguments regarding the wild card being good for baseball. The purpose of the 162 game schedule is to identify the best team. If one second place team qualifies for the playoffs why shouldn't all of them?

If more divisions create more rivalries why doesn't baseball just go to all two-team divisions and have nothing but rivalries, and they could play each other even more than 19 times a season? And the more divisional champions will create even more playoff teams and more post season excitement. The unbalanced schedules also ensure some teams get to play more games against inferior opponents which makes it relatively easier for them to make the playoffs as the wild card team, and this can be compounded by inequality of interleague opponents.

The last 3 World Series champs being wild card teams should amplify the impact of money on World Series winners as they all made acquisitions at the trading deadline to prop their stretch runs.

Yes, the A's got to the playoffs 4 years in a row, but they finally ran out of luck because they could not afford to keep their closer, who just happened to be a key player in the Red Sox post season success, at the start of the season, and they could not afford to make any acquisitions to improve their team at the trading deadline. The only "low salary" team to make the playoffs this year was the Twins, and they made it because they were the best of a bad lot in the AL Central. No, money is not the be all end all in baseball, but the intelligent use of money is, and disproportionate distribution of money enables some franchises to succeed with less intelligent use of more money.

The Red Sox finished with the second best record in the AL because their late season acquisitions improved their team. Where were they sitting in the standings prior to their stretch drive? Post season series are strange animals. There is no question Boston was playing the best baseball in September and October, but they certainly weren't the best from April through August.

The divisional structure no longer worked. Midwest teams having to constantly play teams as much as 3 hours out of their timezone? Hard to keep fans up during the midweek and watch the games and if the fans aren't watching, you have a problem.

The purpose of the 162 game schedule is not to pick the best team but the best teams.

Oakland picks up guys regularly and doesn't break the bank. In 2002 they let go of Giambi and won even more games the following year. The Sox dumped Nomar's salary for three guys who contributed. Some teams overspend but hey, free market rules and the smart sellers restock their systems for better days. See the Marlins team of last year and how it was built when they broke up the 97 team.

There is nothing disproportionate about money. If people would get off their ass and go to the games then teams would have more money to spend. If people would follow the games then the local TV contracts will get more money. While I hate the Yankees, I don't support the idea that NY fans should have to subsidize Pittsburgh and Milwaukee's teams.

The Red Sox were the AL's best team from late July through the end of the year. It started with the NY brawl and carried through. Theo did a masterful job of being a GM and did it better than anyone else in the game.