Baseball sees big markets near top

PHILADELPHIA – Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio thought about the teams in baseball’s final four this year – all large-market clubs – and wondered whether there would be room for his franchise anytime soon.

“We don’t know if that’s a trend or just an aberration,” he said. “The disparity among the clubs appears to be widening.”

Baseball’s four league championship series teams were all among the top nine in opening-day payroll this year, led by the top-spending New York Yankees at $201 million. They were joined by the No. 6 Los Angeles Angels ($114 million), No. 7 Philadelphia ($113 million) and the No. 9 Los Angeles Dodgers ($100 million).

No room this year for the little guys.

Just last year, the Tampa Bay Rays won the AL pennant with a $51 million payroll, 28th among the 30 major league clubs. And parity has increased throughout the sport under the 1996-01 and 2002-06 labor contracts along with the current deal, which runs until December 2011.