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Originally Posted by westofyou
Big city towns having been buying it since Kelly went from the White Stockings to the Beaneaters for 10K.
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Not to mention the tremendous advantage they had before the mid-1960s, when there was no draft and the minors were less structured. The rich clubs could buy the best amateur talent and stock more farm clubs. Today, occasionally a low-revenue team will have to pass on a particular player due to signing bonus concerns, but outside the first round it's a level playing field.
Really, there was only about a ten-year period where teams had equal shots at the talent and the ability to keep it forever if they chose. (Or until 1976, whichever came first.) Luckily for Reds fans, we had some sharp cookies in the front office then and life was good.
It may be harder on the small-market clubs now in some respects, but one thing hasn't changed -- teams that make good baseball decisions will do well and teams that don't, won't.