Dayton Moore’s team has won two straight American League pennants. He’s won the World Series. Some argue that the Kansas City Royals has been the most successful team in baseball over the last two seasons.
However, not everyone is joining the chorus of accolades.
Anonymous owners and executives of big-market clubs have grumbled to media insiders about teams “tanking” seasons to accumulate multiple seasons of high draft picks in order to build a winner. They say small-market teams have pursued such a strategy while pocketing “balancing” subsidies from large-market teams.
The big market teams grouse that such a practice harms league revenue by driving down attendance, and TV ratings, for teams that pursue a “tanking” strategy.