Fans, As Always, Will Pay in End

Free agency is a bonanza for rich clubs who can sit back and pluck the best players out of organizations who develop talent the old-fashioned way: through their farm systems.

A winning team used to be a result of careful nurturing of young ballplayers and productive trades. Now all a club needs is the backing of a wealthy cowboy, an arrogant shipbuilder or a real estate magnate.

Ah, to the good ol’ days, when banks were solvent, Japan made inferior products and ballplayers weren’t billionaires.

SKIP USEN, Los Angeles