I heard a little blip on WLW this morning where Dan O'Brien was discussing the release of Jimmy Haynes and referred to the Reds as a small market team. He said that since the Reds are a small market team you always have to consider the financial aspect when considering a release of this nature.

This brings up a few questions.
What makes a small market? Is it just the metropolitan population of a given team? Is it the cable tv/radio contracts and their viewing draw? The revenue?
Are the Reds in a small market?
Is it possible to go from a small market team to a medium market? Didn't Cleveland do that a few years ago? What about St. Louis or Colorado?

Dan's comment bothered me. Maybe I just don't like the terminology, but I thought it sounded like an excuse.