In Major League Baseball there are the haves and the have-nots. No, wait. In MLB there’s the Yankees, the haves, and the have-nots. The Yankees are Bill Gates and Warren Buffett rolled into one.

With a $201M payroll, the Yankees spend more than $50M more than the Mets, the leader of the “haves” with a payroll more than $149M. After the Mets come the other “haves” – the Cubs, Red Sox, Tigers, Angels, Phillies, Astros, and Dodgers – all spending more than $100M per year in salaries. There are a few other “haves” in the $90M-range… then the “have-nots” fall into line.

As a Red Sox fan, I’m not complaining. The team for whom I root is one of the “haves” with a shot at winning a championship each year. However, since the mid-1990s, only the Marlins and Diamondbacks have interrupted one of the major-market teams from winning it all. And, I wouldn’t exactly call south Florida or Phoenix small markets – maybe just bad baseball fans.

With the Sox winning two World Series since 2004, the Yankees winning didn’t bother me as in years past. With all that spending, it was inevitable. It will just make the hot-stove season more fun in Boston this year. But for those baseball fans of “have-nots,” how long can they keep enjoying and supporting the long baseball season knowing there isn’t a chance-in-hell that their team can win a championship? How does that make Bud and the suits at MLB feel? Major League Baseball has become a league of elitists, which is just one of the many problems facing baseball.

With championship #27 under its belt, it’s happy-days again in New York. Congratulations to them and their fans. For the “have-nots,” MLB apparently doesn’t care.

Ah, the Fall Classic. Baseball in October. As a boy, it was a special time of the year. My first memories of the World Series began in the mid 1950s when names like Ford, Larsen, Berra, Mantle, Stengel, Alston, Hodges, Snider, Campenella, Maglie and Newcombe donned the sports pages. Hell, back in those days, the World Series sometimes began in late September. You know, a time when baseball was played in weather befitting the game.

Not today. Between extending the regular season to 162-games in 1961 (1962 in the NL), and expanding into a playoff system in 1995, the MLB Fall Classic appears more like a Winter Classic. Well, at least on the east coast. Watching recent Angels-Yankees games at Yankee Stadium in 30-degree weather and rain is a travesty. To make matters worse, MLB recently scheduled an afternoon game in LA and a night game in NY on the same day. Go figure. I understand time zones, but I also know it gets much colder on the east coast at night. DUH!

This year the World Series is scheduled to begin October 28^th. If the Series goes seven games (and weather permitting) it will end on November 5^th. For MLB and warm-weather residents, here’s a bit of meteorology; the East gets markedly colder in late October than in early October.

Maybe MLB was planning on a Freeway Series between the Angles and Dodgers, but that scenario doesn’t appear likely. With the Yankees up 2-0 at the time of this writing, I see no chance for the Los Angeles California Angels of Anaheim beating the Yankees 4-times in 5 games. For the record, I also don’t see anyone in the NL beating the Yankees more than once, never mind four times.

So thanks to MLB greed, we could be watching the most important baseball games of the year in 20-degree weather and snow. It’s time for all those “brilliant minds” in MLB to figure something out. Leave the games played in cold and snow to the NFL.

It’s just another example of capitalism gone amuck.

It’s hard to believe the MLB All-Star break is upon us. With summer yet to arrive in the northeast, the weather here still feels like NBA playoff time. When do the Lakers arrive in Boston for yet another NBA Finals? Is Garnett’s balky knee good enough to play? What…you mean we have to wait another year to see that? The addition of Ron Artest and Rasheed Wallace to the Lakers and Celtics, respectively, has all but assured that rematch in 2010. But that’s for another Blog.

So, I guess it really is MLB All-Star week. For some reason the lure of the game no longer exists for me. Is it my age, or has the steroid era dampened my enthusiasm for the game and its stars? Probably a little of both.

However, for me, the game of baseball, once filled with statistics that mattered and star players who gathered yearly to put on a “show” for baseball purists, no longer exists. Oh, sure, the All-Star game now “counts,” as the winner provides its league with home field advantage for the World Series. But that, too, is a joke. Why they allow an exhibition game to carry so much weight for its historic Fall Classic is mind-boggling.

I also wonder; do the names Pujols, Utley, Beltran, Teixeira, Longoria, and Bay bring as much excitement to today’s young fans as did Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Williams, Musial and Clemente did for my generation? I hate to sound like an old fart, but I think not.

Don’t get me wrong. Players of my youth were no angels. They drank and chased women with the best (or worst) of men. We just seldom heard about it. But there was a “star power” in those days that simply doesn’t exist today. I’m sure being a kid and only getting to see baseball games on TV on weekends helped make players larger than life during those innocent years, but I think it goes beyond just that. Times have changed – and so has the game of baseball. Sadly, for the worse.

How does that song go? “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio – a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.”

Do you think Albert Pujols and his fans know Simon and Garfunkel?

Manny Ramirez, called by many the greatest right-handed hitter of his generation (along with Albert Pujols), is the latest potential casualty to become a Hall of Famer. Hit with a recent 50-game suspension for violating the MLB drug policy, Manny joins the likes of McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Clemens, Palmeiro, and A-Rod who will be keenly scrutinized for possible entry in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

McGwire’s fate seems to be determined, as he has already failed to gain sufficient votes. We’ll soon find out about a few others, as their five-year retirement from baseball approaches. The wait on Manny and A-Rod could be to their advantage, as they are years from retirement. Time can deter memory. However, whether any of these cheaters get into the Hall of Fame, they have already ruined the fabric of the game. And who’s to know whether others who have been inducted weren’t also guilty of steroid use? I have my suspicions.

What made baseball so different from other major sports was its stats. Numbers have always been part of the game. As kids, we all knew 714, 61, and 2,130. Today, those numbers have been shattered. However, can you instantly tell me what the new numbers representing those records are today? Personally, those old numbers, along with 755, are the one’s I’ll forever remember.

Unfortunately, baseball stats have gone the way of basketball and football statistics. No one knows … and no one cares.

SI.com has reported Alex Rodriquez tested positive for an anabolic steroid and testosterone in 2003.  Rodriguez chose not to comment to a SI.com reporter. He stated, “You’ll have to talk to the Union.”

Is anyone really surprised? It’s disappointing, but not surprising. The only negative is that we’ll now be talking steroids again rather than the enjoyment of Spring Training.

So, we now have the greatest home run-hitter of all time, arguably the greatest pitcher of all-time (at least of his time), and, now, possibly the best all-around player of all-time, all tainted by the steroid era. What does the future hold for inductions into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Is it time for Bud Selig to take a look at the record books? Should MLB begin thinking of restoring the records held by Aaron and Maris? Should there be an asterisk on Clemens’ 354 wins? These are questions that need to be asked and answered. MLB and Selig can no longer hide their heads in the sand.

Get ready… ESPN and your favorite sports talk-radio stations will be all-over this story in the coming days. If A-Rod thought Madonna was a magnet for the media, she has nothing on a good steroid story!

Not since the mid 1930s when Charles B. Darrow presented his newly invented board game to Parker Brothers has money been thrown around so frivolously. I haven’t played Monopoly in years, but it continues to be the best selling board game in the world, with MLB apparently its leading advocate.

The Yankees recently committed nearly a half-billion dollars to three players. Even Mr. Monopoly couldn’t compete at that level. Hell, there’s only a total of $15,140 in a standard game of Monopoly. Surely a sizable piece of change in 1935, but just gas money for today’s professional athlete.

The recent New York signing of C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira has Yankees haters complaining – and baseball purists looking to castrate the all-powerful, super-agent Scott Boras. However, even though I’m no fan of Boras and his tactics, and I grew up hating the Yankees, they play within the rules of the game. The Yankees could simply “pocket” their profits but, for better or worse, they invest in the free agent market. It certainly doesn’t guarantee championships. In 2008, the top three payrolls in MLB (Yankees, Tigers, and Mets) didn’t even make the playoffs. The champion Phillies ranked 13th and AL Champs Rays 29th, respectively.

However, as MLB payrolls continue to spiral, are you not concerned about the game’s future? I curiously await 2009 attendance figures outside of New York, Boston, Chicago and LA.

Have we all been blinded by capitalism so much that we forget MLB is a league and, collectively, it is only as strong as its weakest link. This notion of teams “driving up prices” of their competitors (e.g. Red Sox-Yankees) is foolish. Eventually, that philosophy comes around to bite them all. If the Red Sox were simply driving up the Teixeira price, won’t that affect the future cost to them for the services of Kevin Youkilis?

MLB and the MLBPA need to take a long, hard look at the future of the game and stop trying to simply line their pockets with cash while the going is good. We have seen what that can do to the economy. MLB is not immune. It’s time for a salary cap.

Two players appear to be keeping the hot stove cool. MLB’s Hot Stove season is waiting for this year’s two biggest free agents to make their moves. The word in Vegas, where another MLB General Manager’s meeting is taking place at the luxurious Bellagio, is once Teixeira and Sabathia ink new deals, the flood gates will open.

Sabathia, sitting on a six-year, $140 million offer from the Yankees, supposedly favors residence on the west coast. However, can the Dodgers, Angels, or Giants really compete with the Yankees in a bidding war? If the Yankees weren’t so desperate for pitching, they’d put a deadline on their offer and call Sabathia’s bluff regarding a Pacific Ocean view. But that won’t happen. However, can the Dodgers really let Manny Ramirez leave, and then sign C.C. to a long-term deal at Manny-money? Mannywood fans would be outraged. The Giants certainly can’t outbid the Yankees, so they would need a real hometown discount to sign him. The Angels can compete with the Yankees, but at the expense of loosing Teixeira? I doubt they can afford both.

It will be interesting to see which is more important to Sabathia – money or the California lifestyle. For what it’s worth, I’d take less dough and be “California Dreamin’” over the Bronx. After all, what’s a little less at these ridiculous numbers? Plus, I’ve been to both places…and there is no choice.

Regarding Teixeira, get ready for an A-Rod type contract. The Red Sox appear serious about pursuing the gold-glove, high OBP, slugger. And when you add the Yankees and Angels into the bidding war, he’s sure to break the bank. There will be no financial crisis conversation with Boros when it comes to negotiations about Teixeira.

So let’s get on with it already. It’s December, and the stove needs to get hot. Hell, spring training is right around the corner….at least that’s what the snowbirds are telling me.

As the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.”

It appears Red Sox Nation has had enough of Manny being Manny. For the past week, Boston sports talk-radio airwaves have been inundated with callers who appear to have had enough of the savant slugger, who recently pulled himself out of the Sox lineup twice. Manny stated it was due to a cranky knee, but MRIs came up negative on both knees.

It was one thing for Ramirez to pull himself out of the lineup against the lowly Seattle Mariners, but when he sat again in the first game of the most recent Yankees series at Fenway Park, all hell broke loose in New England. More important than fans and radio talk-show hosts, it also appears the Red Sox brass has had enough of Manny’s quirkiness. What appeared to be a no-brainer two weeks ago – that the Sox would pick up the team’s $20M 2009 option for Ramirez – now seems as likely as John McCain winning Massachusetts in November.

Manny quitting on loyal Sox fans and, more importantly, his teammates is deplorable. Letting teammates down is the mortal sin of an athlete. However, let’s not kid ourselves. Pro sports are all about winning. As a reminder, until 2004, Sox fans had not seen a World Championship since 1918. They’ve now witnessed two since 2004. Would they have done so without Ramirez? Probably not. Had they not won those two championships, would fans and Sox brass still want Manny to walk? My guess is no.

Manny Ramirez is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Does that forgive him for his recent actions? Not in real life, but this is not real life. It’s Major League Baseball. Lest we forget the indiscretions of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Juan Marichal, Mickey Mantle, Barry Bonds, et al.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are the best 3-4 hitters the game has seen since Ruth and Gehrig. So, be careful what you wish for Sox fans … and enjoy it while you can. Those days may be gone soon. And with it, championships.

While opinions regarding whether of not Roger Clemens used performance enhancing drugs may not have been altered by the recent Congressional hearings…you must admit, it was great theatre. And even better politics.

Make no mistake about it, good ‘ole boy politics’ was at work. The Clemens – McNamee Congressional hearings had nothing to do with gaining the truth or protecting America’s youth from drugs. It was Democrats versus Republicans. It was time to call-in political favors. Clemens’ Texas roots were prevalent. How else can one explain this becoming a battle of political parties? Do you think it was a coincidence that most Republicans came to Clemens’ defense? Do you think it was coincidence that leading Republican Tom Davis rushed to Clemens side immediately after the hearing?

American politics is often behind-closed-door deals. Unfortunately, we saw it at its worst during this hearing. And politicians wonder why Americans question the integrity of its leaders? When lobbying is allowed during depositions and prior to Congressional hearings regarding the use of illegal drugs, it has gone too far.

My opinion as to whether Clemens used steroids or HGH is irrelevant. However, I find it difficult to believe that McNamee was telling the truth about Pettitte, Knoblauch, and Debbie Clemens, yet lying about Roger. Why? I also find it difficult to believe Debbie Clemens would get a shot of HGH from McNamee without her husband’s knowledge. Plus, if Roger wasn’t getting shot-up by McNamee – nor did he ever discuss drugs with him (as he claims), how did Debbie know to go to McNamee for the injection?

In every poll I’ve seen, most American’s believed McNamee. So what did the Republicans hear that the rest of us didn’t, which led them to support Clemens? Maybe they heard a Republican “voice” who was the former General Managing Partner of the Texas Rangers.

By the way, that former Managing Partner currently lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

According to reports out of New York, Joe Torre’s fate will be determined sometime within the next two weeks. GM Brian Cashman’s job is safe for at least another season - yet Torre is made accountable for the free agent signings that brought the Yankees busts like Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright and yes, even Mike Mussina.

The playoffs are about starting pitching, and while one might criticize Torre for not starting Andy Petitte in Game 1 against Cleveland, look at the starting staff Torre is stuck with. It was the worst of any team in the post season. Compare it to the Red Sox starters, or the Indians staff, or that of the Angels, or Diamondbacks.

Sure, Chien-Mien Wang can load up on W’s against the Devil Rays, Royals and Orioles while the vaunted Yankee line-up supports him with eight runs per game during the summer.

Come fall however, you don’t score eight runs a game, as the Yanks found out. You have to win 2-1 games in the playoffs, and the team Brian Cashman gave Joe Torre isn’t built that way.

Not right now anyway.

Finally seeing the error of his ways, Cashman has stockpiled young starting pitching that could make the envy of all baseball in two years. But at what cost, Torre’s job? If the Yankees let Torre go, they will increase the chances that Rodriguez, Posada and Duncan follow him out of the Bronx. And where will that leave the Yankees - back to the days of Horace Clark?

Torre took the Yankees to 12 straight playoffs and won four World Series - and he should have with the teams he had. Yet on closer inspection, to expect him to do more with the pitching staff he has been burdened with these last few years is unrealistic. Pitching rules the playoffs with a couple of big bats, which is why the Red Sox will win it all.

As for Torre, Angels skipper Mike Sciocia may have said it best today in LA. “I hope the Yankees do fire him. It’ll be one less team in the American league we need to worry about because no one can replace him.”

There is no doubt that the Yankees made Joe Torre. They probably even put him into the Hall of Fame. These days, however, the Yankees need Joe Torre more than Joe Torre needs the Yankees.