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$423 million is the amount of money a slow economy dropped revenue for the state of Washington.

$423 million is the amount of measurable media coverage TDG Communications says it has generated for the Black Hills of South Dakota since 2005.

$423 million is what oil firms are paying to settle a groundwater contamination lawsuit.

$423 million is the estimated amount a group of hackers planned to steal from a Japanese bank using a planted keylogger.

And $423 million is the amount the New York Yankees will have shelled out to sign CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira as soon as the former Ranger, Brave and Angel first baseman officially signs his deal.

Yeah. Revenue sharing and the luxury tax have done a lot to level the playing field in Major League Baseball.

This post will piggyback off of one coming soon addressing concerns I have that the new New York ballparks, while assuredly fantastic venues for fans to watch ball games, will do more damage to the game in terms of further skewing revenues, and thus payrolls, further deteriorating the competitiveness in Major League Baseball.

In researching that post I came across a question-and-answer session conducted with Hank Steinbrenner, who will herefore be known on this site as the Idiot Son of George Steinbrenner.

George Steinbrenner is an interesting character. He was sometimes crass, even occasionally criminal (yes, search “pleaded guilty” at the linked bio page) in his business dealings. But he represented the Yankees proudly and even occasionally made sense.

He’s handed the reins largely over to sons Hank and Hal. If this interview was transcribed correctly, George should muzzle Hank and make sure the supposedly more reserved Hal becomes the team’s more frequent spokesperson.

Hank rants in this interview on revenue sharing, the divisional playoff system and the lack of logic displayed by sports media.

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Major League Baseball Agent Scott Boras conducted a chat at usatoday.com this morning and made a couple of interesting revelations.

Well, perhaps they weren’t revelations. But they offered further proof that the agent couldn’t give a rip about anything more than making as much money for his clients as possible.

One questioner, from Westlake Village, Calif., asked if Boras had any concern for the fan bases of teams affected by the constant shuffling of players chasing big bucks.

Boras didn’t really answer the question, but told Westlake Village that his staff of 20 works year-round to prepare players for free agency and salary arbitration.

“When Teams call we determine if our client is interested then a information exchange occurs to define the agreed value of the player. If both parties agree we have an agreement,” he says.

Another Californian from Aliso Viejo asked about player greed and salaries during a time when “real hardworking people who get up and work 8-5 to make ends meet but are losing everything they have.”

While the question was a bit melodramatic, Boras’ response started out as a discussion of player revenues, which he says have increased from $3 billion in 2000 to $6.5 billion in 2008.

“Please keep in mind many of our clients donate millions of dollars to funds that provide tickets to children and families who would other wise not be able to attend games,” Boras wrote.

I about yacked when I read the last part. To quote the late, great Chris Farley, “Well, La De Frickin’ Da.” A big thank you to players making anywhere from what, a quarter million to $26 million a year for buying a couple tickets to each game? Is he looking for a slap on the back? I will grant him that many, many players are fantastic people and very generous. But forgive me if I don’t bow in their general direction when they share their money with the less fortunate. They should do that - just like any halfway decent person with an abundance of resources should. Charitable organizations rely on such generosity - and guess what, some people don’t want or need recognition for it. Spare me the pretend virtuosity.

My favorite answer, however, came when he was asked by New York, NY what his response would be to a salary cap. Boras, in true, self-serving fashion, responded that “salary caps prevent the true intellect of the sport from operating.”

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For opening night of the 2002 Major League Baseball season, 34,351 fans showed up in Montreal to watch the team’s last home opening game.

By then the Expos were a lame-duck team destined for Washington and owned by the league.

The highlight of that opening night, according to an account in Time magazine, came when a fan holding a “LORIA SUCKS” sign jumped up on the Florida Marlins dugout to dance and temporarily evade security personnel.

By then, as part of the agreement to sell the Expos, Jeffrey Loria had acquired those Marlins. In 2003, the team won its second World Series. Then, two years later, with no public financing for a new ballpark, Loria dismantled the team, creating one of the lowest-paid franchises in baseball.

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The Florida Marlins continue illustrating why Major League Baseball will eventually need to implement a salary floor.

The Fish reportedly have agreed to trade up-and-coming starter Scott Olsen and veteran outfielder Josh Willingham to the Washington Nationals for utility man Emilio Bonifacio and two minor leaguers, according to sportingnews.com.

Owner Jeffrey Loria has reportedly authorized a payroll of $40 million for the first time since 2005. But while the Marlins have reportedly made plans to increase their salaries this season, they’d already traded arbitration-eligible first baseman Mike Jacobs to Kansas City for a middle reliever. And acquiring Bonifacio makes it possible that also arbitration-eligible second baseman Dan Uggla could be on the block as well.

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The World Series opens tonight in Tampa Bay where the Rays will host the Philadelphia Phillies. Interestingly, the reason the game is being played in Florida is that Brad Lidge of the Phillies gave up a sacrifice fly to Michael Young of the Texas Rangers in the 15th inning of the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium in July.

Scott Kazmir, who will start the game for Tampa tonight, got the win in that contest.

It’s strange that Commissioner Bud Selig’s twisted idea for making the All-Star game matter actually worked out this year. But as John Smoltz said on the Dan Patrick Show this morning, it’s still a stupid idea.

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Darren Rovell is a sports business reporter for CNBC.com. He writes some interesting stories about the behind-the-scenes aspect of sports that fans don’t always think about when they are watching the NFL or Major League Baseball on television.

I often find what he writes interesting, but he struck a nerve with me the other day with a post about how the Tampa Bay Rays making the World Series would negatively affect television ratings.

“Isn’t the great story of the FILL IN THE BLANK HERE team worth some eyeballs,” Rovell writes of what fans and radio hosts ask him each time a Cinderella team makes a run. “And the answer is no. The bottom line if the Rays make it to the World Series they’d arguably be the most anonymous team to ever make it there.”

To which I say “Who freaking cares.” Just because spoiled New Yorkers used to having their team(s) in the mix every season don’t make it for one lousy season, just because the favored Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim both choked away their opportunities to make a run this season, just because TBS and/or Fox Sports didn’t get the major market teams they wanted to maximize the fattenization of their wallets, doesn’t mean that I have to feel badly about it. If none of those teams’ fans tune in should I feel bad for Fox?

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The Chicago White Sox 1-0 win over Minnesota finalized the matchups for round one of the Major League playoffs. Three of those series will kick off today.

In the early game the Philadelphia Phillies send Cole Hamels to the mound to face the Milwaukee Brewers - who haven’t been to the playoffs since 1982 - and Yovani Gallardo, who has pitched in just one game since tearing up his knee on the first day of May.

In the later games, the Boston Red Sox will play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Chicago Cubs will host the Los Angeles Dodgers. The White Sox will head to Tampa tomorrow.

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With Philadelphia clinching the NL East, six of the eight Major League Baseball playoff spots are filled. The final two spots will be determined by which two of four teams - one in each league - chokes less on the season’s final day.

The Chicago White Sox are this year’s version of the 2007 New York Mets, though the team from Queens is on a quest to blow a playoff spot in dramatic fashion for the second year in a row.
The Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers are the other teams in contention for chokers of the year.

The White Sox head into what should be the season’s final day on a five game losing streak, three of which were suffered at the hands of their division rival Twins. The Sox really would have needed just one win in the last five to lock up the Central - as the Twins have followed up their White Sox sweep with two clunkers against Kansas City.

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While the New York Yankees aren’t playoff-bound for the first time in a decade-and-a-half this season it’d be impossible to not take a moment to pay tribute to Yankee Stadium, which closes down after tonight’s game against Baltimore.

I had the opportunity to visit the shrine earlier this season. It doesn’t have the amenities of a Jacobs Field, Camden Yards or even Fenway Park. Its ambience can’t match those of Wrigley Field or Coors Field. Its seating arrangements are strange and, as my wife notes, the bathrooms are ill-conceived and somewhat disgusting.

But it’s still Yankee Stadium. Love the Yankees or hate the Yankees you can’t argue the history, from Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, from Don Mattingly to Whitey Ford and Billy Martin, this ballpark has seen more personalities and more championships than any other.

I surveyed a couple fans while I was there this summer and there was little sentiment. The new ballpark will be one of those new-style monuments, a shrine to capitalism and a more comfortable place to watch a game. “The ghosts won’t have far to go,” said one man, who didn’t appear ready to shed any tears.

All of that may be true. But while I’ve never been a Yankees fan and this was my one and only visit to the House that Ruth Built, I couldn’t help but think that despite its shortcomings it was definitely a special place. It was definitely worth the trip.

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