Andrew Zimbalist By Andrew S. May The Best Team Win: Baseball Economics

Zimbalist, Andrew S. May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy. Washington,

D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2003. Print.

In Zimbalist’s book, he addresses the major problems and inefficiencies in the baseball industry and how these issues are intertwined to the MLB as a monopoly. Zimbalist firmly believes that these issues can be resolved by eliminating the industry’s antitrust exemption. As a result of this exemption, there is a competitive imbalance on the field as teams, specifically their owners, have access to monopoly profits from media and television networks. This book overall successfully demonstrates the issue of competition off the field.

This is a high-quality source due to its author’s credentials and the argument it presents. Zimbalist is one of the most respected sports economist and in his book he presents an argument that none of my other sources do. This book tackles the issues of antitrust laws and is a great discussion topic on the negative side effect they have caused by not being implemented in MLB. This is an excellent source for my research because it exemplifies that a salary cap in baseball would be pointless as it would take money away from deserving players instead of corrupt owners who abuse the

For years now the MLB player’s association has strived for more balance in the league as it appears dynasty teams such as the New York Yankees are recurring making it to the postseason and winning championships. The commissioner of baseball found that competitive balance will exist when all teams have a fair chance of regularly reaching the postseason. Sanderson and Siegfried found multiple imbalances in the league that contribute to the lack of competitive balance in MLB. Major topics still left to be answered include, relationships between payroll and performance, market size and winning, and team and player