I think it is obvious that Ilya Kovalchuk’s contract was a slick attempt to circumvent the salary cap. However, I wish they had allowed it. Salary caps are generally bad for sports leagues. They are a socailly acceptable form of communism and I applaud Major League Baseball for avoiding even a soft cap. Why should everyone be limited to the same resources?
The Yankees and Red Sox spend more on their teams than anyone else, and everyone else complains that they have an unfair competitive advantage. The two AL East powers generate a disproportionate amount of MLB revenue, much of which is shared with the rest of the teams. In 2005 Yankees and Red Sox hats equated to 53% of all MLB headwear and with the Yankees and Red Sox each winning a World Series since then, I imagine that number has increased even more. Numbers like these apply to all types of MLB merchandise, and profits from MLB merchandise are shared between all 30 teams.
So small market fans everywhere, next time you talk to a Yankees fan, don’t complain, instead thank them for making your team profitable.
RyanKantor.com 
Yup, and all that money split 30 ways will pay for what? A quarter of a decent players signing bonus?? Lets not go overboard and act like the Yankees are paying for half of a small market teams payroll. In reality, they are probably paying for a week of batting practice balls.
Touche, but why are we giving money to the Marlins and Rays anyway? The answer is that the Yankees need other teams to stay in business in order for the Yankees to be profitable (we have to play someone).
My point is that a salary cap would stunt the Yankees ability to generate revenue and hurt everyone in baseball and a more invasive revenue sharing plan would discourage revenue generation and encourage cost cutting. The Yankees pay an absurd amount in luxury tax, something like $25,000,000 annually (http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081222&content_id=3726222&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy&partnerId=rss_nyy).
I understand it is neccesary in professional sports to keep every team in business because they’re partners and competitors, but for heaven’s sake, don’t complain about the Yankees.
Agree pretty much with all of your comments. Instead of fans of other teams complaining, look at your own owners who are making a ton of money and pocketing it. Think not? How many are selling their teams? Also look at attendance every series the Yankees come in. Every team loves the revenue. You may hate the Yankees but they are helping, not hurting your team.
Spot on RJ. Thanks for the comment. I appreciate the read.