[Pelican]

In my contemporary sims I choose to run a small-market team like the Pirates or the Rockies or the A's, but in a redesigned financial system. Either I implement a salary floor number (salary cap does not work), or I simply give the small-market teams more revenue and more cash. In the latter case, these teams have a choice of signing free agents or investing the money in scouting and player development. Signing free agents to fill gaping holes can make a bad team competitive pretty fast. It reduces - but does not eliminate - the advantage that LA and both NY teams and Atlanta and a few others have with huge spending. Over time, reducing the gap between wealthy and poor teams increases competition. Done right, you can forget 100-win or 100-loss teams. If you want parity in competition, start with parity in resources. That sounds like socialism to some people, who apparently enjoy the "rich get richer" aspects of MLB. It sounds like real fun baseball to me.