Addition by Contraction - Cool, Calm and Collected

A couple of weeks ago, Major League Baseball team owners voted almost unanimously to contract the league by eliminating two teams. The list of possible victims was narrowed down to three cities: Montreal, Miami and Minnesota. The decision to contract has drawn a huge amount of flack from residents of the targeted areas as well as from fans around the league.

But there is no question that contraction is the correct move, even if putting Minnesota on the hit list is not.

This day has been coming for quite sometime.

It is the logical result of the expansion philosophy that was first started in the early 60's, growing to ridiculous heights by the mid 90's.

Baseball's first expansion came in 1962. Prior to the Giants and Dodgers moving to California in 1958, there were no baseball teams west of the Mississippi River. Times were changing in the country, and baseball needed to keep up. The 16-team format, with eight in each league, that had been so reliable and steady for so many years was not cutting it anymore.

The league attempted to catch up by adding two more teams. The New York Mets were created to replace the two National League teams that had fled, and the city of Houston was given the Astros as the "Mississippi" barrier was broken.

Another round of expansion came in 1969 with the creation of the Seattle Pilots, Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres.

All of these additions, along with a couple of others that came after, seemed to make sense.

Each city was able to give a sufficient amount of fan support to their new team and the ones that were unable to do so, like Seattle, lost their club.

After all the expansions were complete, baseball once again found a steady rhythm within its team structure that lasted through the 80's and into the early 90's.

But unable to leave well enough alone, Major League Baseball decided to expand again, putting teams in Denver and Miami, two notoriously big football towns, in 1993. Four years later, Arizona and Tampa also got ball clubs.

On the surface it might seem a little silly to criticize the creation of teams like the Marlins and the Diamondbacks considering that Florida won the World Series in 1997 and the D-Backs were victorious this year. But that fact is truly irrelevant to the debate on contraction.

Nobody is saying that the newer teams have not been competitive enough. In fact, two of the three possible victims were not created during the new wave of expansion.

The fact that Major League Baseball currently has too many teams is evidenced by two problems that the league faces.

The first problem deals with the quality of play, with special emphasis on pitching.

There have been many theories as to why so many players are now able to hit so many home runs with really high batting averages.

Some people believe that the players are just stronger and better while others say the secret is that the baseball is "juiced."

But the real reason for the offensive surge is that the average Major League pitcher is just not that good anymore. There are too many clueless young hurlers taking the mound in big league stadiums without a real ability to throw or think with consistency.

The overwhelming cause of this decrease in pitching ability is expansion.

Many of these inadequate pitchers should be in the minor leagues, developing their craft. Instead, they are at the top level because more teams mean more pitching spots. Contraction will send many of these young hopefuls back to the minors and the quality of pitching will almost certainly improve.

Even more harmful to the game then bad pitching is the existence of bad teams that have no hope of becoming good. Teams like the Pirates and Brewers will be forever stuck in baseball's abyss because of one thing, money.

Big market teams like the Yankees and Dodgers are able to generate a tremendous amount of revenue from hundred million dollar television deals.

Because baseball has no salary cap, the giants use their riches to buy the contracts of the best players. The small market teams are unable to keep or sign quality free agents because these players will always ask for a prohibitive salary.

Contraction will ameliorate the tremendous gap between the big and small market teams.

With fewer teams in existence, the high-priced free agents will have fewer options.

On the flip side, contraction will produce a higher "marquee" player per team available ratio. At some point, teams like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee may be able to acquire the good players and be able to compete with the big boys.

The only matter left is deciding which two of the three possible teams to cut. I think the answer is clear. The Montreal Expos have almost no fan base left. Despite the fact that Montreal has always been a hockey town, in the past the Expos were able to generate a significant following.

But the aforementioned big/small market gap has left the Expos unable to keep any of the studs that their farm system has produced. The result has been one losing season after another and rapidly declining attendance. There is no question that the league should say good-bye to the 'Spos.

Now, if the choice is down to the Twins and the Marlins, there is again no question. The Twins have a rich history from Harmon Killebrew to Kirby Pucket. They have a loyal following in Minnesota. The Marlins have been around for eight years. Granted, they did win a championship in 1997.

But the very next season saw then owner Wayne Huizenga sell-off the entire team in an effort to turn a profit. The gutting of the Marlins was one of the biggest embarrassments that baseball has had to endure over the last 30 years.

Not far behind this is Pro Player Stadium, the "ball park" that the Marlins play in.

Yes, Pro Player was perfectly fine for the likes of Marino and Duper. But I have been there for a baseball game and I can honestly say that the only park that looks less like a baseball field is Wyman Park. So, keep the Twins . kill the fish.