Rob,

With regard to your 5th point about Florida and other teams being uncompetitive, last I looked almost 1/3 of the way through the season Florida, Minnesota and Montreal are all at .500 or above and all in contention. While it is undeniable that the Yankees and a couple of other large market teams have lots more money, the Yankees seem to be the only team which consistently takes advantage of the fact. Others like the Cubs, Dodgers, etc. just seem to spend more with no real purpose. There is still no substitute for good management and good scouts.

Mike