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<p>Boston owner: Rodriguez deal shows system 'woefully out of whack'</p> <p>Wednesday, February 18, 2004 Red Sox owner John Henry now believes a salary cap could be good for baseball after watching the rival Yankees trade for Alex Rodriguez -- a deal his own franchise could not complete.</p>

Strike 4The baseball deal will either make the game worse for fans or it'll be a sham that won't hold salaries down. The owners came close to wrecking the season for this? - - - - - - - - - - - -By Allen BarraAug. 30, 2002  | Let's start with the short form. The crisis was phony, the issues were a crock and the deal is a sham. Well, it's about 50-50 that it will turn out to be a sham. No matter what anyone says, it has yet to be proven that the basic agreement worked out between...

Baseball's "Labour Trouble": Overdraft at the Memory Bank? by Jeff Kallman A rather splendid New York Yankee pitcher, Ed Lopat, grew up to become a rather splendid Minnesota Twins scout. It would have been rather more splendid if only his employer at the time hadn't been the bottom-feeding Kansas City Athletics. Scouting a wiry Cuban outfielder, Lopat was singularly unimpressed. "This kid," he reported to the Athletics, "will never hit in the big leagues."Until that kid's knees betrayed him about a decade later, a Rookie of the Year award, three American League batting championships, one American League pennant, and a...

Bud Selig's buddiesEven good writers are doing bad stories on the issues behind the looming baseball strike. Why is the media peddling the owners' line? - - - - - - - - - - - -By Allen BarraJuly 18, 2002  | I've been covering sports business -- which by definition means mostly baseball business -- for 22 years now. There have been times when I've been amused, surprised, peeved and angered by the coverage of labor problems in the sports press, but 2002 is the first time I've ever felt disgusted. A collective insanity seems to have spread into nearly...

You don't hear the NBA complaining By Jayson StarkESPN.com As we're typing these words, over in another sport, the Lakers are one win from announcing their latest parade route. That's three in a row if you're counting parade routes at home. Funny, isn't it, that we still haven't heard one word from anyone in the NBA, complaining that the Lakers are ruining a once-great sport? OK, we know what you're thinking. You're thinking: "Wait. Isn't this supposed to be a column about baseball?" Well, you're right. This is a column about baseball. But watching the Lakers makes us think about...

Lots of people look upon baseball's last several seasons and are not amused. Not everyone enjoys a ball game turned into a batting practise scrimmage. It's not that baseball doesn't have other problems to fix - like salary inflation, revenue sharing, and a division alignment that's all but cut the legs out from under the pennant races. But you could solve all those problems this minute and still have a game distorted by the idea that no one cares about anything but relentless offence. Real baseball fans - those who savour the noble game, not those who can't stand the...