>It has diminished my enjoyment of baseball -- even though this season has been a renaissance -- that a handful of rich teams have such an unfair advantage. It's no guarantee, as any fan of the overspending and underachieving Cubs or Orioles can assure you. But year in and year out the Yankees and Red Sox, and now the Phillies, sign the highest profile free agents and scarf up the highest profile players at the July 31 roster deadline. Hunter Pence, who is already making a noticeable contribution to the Phillies, as if they needed it, is the latest example. God love Tamar but I hope the Phillies never win another game. Roy Halladay -- bought him. Roy Oswalt -- bought him. Cliff Lee -- bought him. Hunter Pence -- bought him. Is there a pattern here? At least the Giants' crappy hitters are home grown ;-)

But none of that happened until the team had a core of homegrown stars: Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels--all came up through the Phils system. Shane Victorino was a Rule 5 pick. The Phillies didn't get good until they fixed their minor leagues.

Tamar