Ravi, I pretty much agree with most of your points, but I think that's what the current "market correction" is all about. Part of it is the bad economy, but the other part is that teams are finally realizing that paying mediocre veterans (i.e. Todd Zeile) a lot of money is foolish. The stars are getting a little less money than a couple of years ago, but the real difference is in the middle class of baseball.

If you look at those #s on USAToday, payrolls rose an average of 15% a year from 1996 to 2001. They only rose 3% and 5% the last two, and I wouldn't be shocked if they actually drop slightly in 2004.

So, yes, salaries will always rise over time, but they're rising much more slowly, and I think that will continue to be the case for the next couple of seasons.

And I never get bored with baseball.