Marlins

This is absurd. Lo Duca to the Mets for prospects is the latest trade, and no signs of stopping. Let's see, they've now traded one of their top-three starters, their catcher, first baseman, second baseman, and third baseman. The center fielder is on the block. And they clearly don't care - trading their best players to team in their own division is just bad baseball.

This is the sort of thing that's bad for baseball. This team is just over 10 years old and still building a fan base. Dismantling the team like this twice in ten years doesn't lend itself to fan loyalty. I don't see MLB expanding any time soon, but they would do well to consider the potential loyalty of the fan base when granting teams. Both of the Florida expansion teams of the last 15 years, the Marlins and the Devil Rays, have struggled more often then not, and have struggled financially. The presence of minor league baseball and spring training in Florida probably weakens the potential fan base, as does the nature of the demographic.

For this reason, I think pro sports will fail miserably in Las Vegas. Are tourists really going to want to go to a baseball game? And if the game is marketed to the tourists, the locals won't want to go. Put a AAA team in Portland, and see how it does. If they can draw fans, then consider moving the Marlins there when the stadium lease is up.

But the sport could still use a salary cap. There's a clear difference between the teams that have and the teams that have not. Capping what teams can spend will give all teams a fighting chance to land the top-level free agents. I also think they should take a page from the new hockey deal, and have a payroll floor as well. Each team must spend a certain amount of money to put a competitive team on the field. This would certainly help.