Not only do Major League Baseball teams get to spend this offseason watching the New York Yankees swipe every superstar player whose contract has expired, now, according to Hal Steinbrenner, they should just shut up and enjoy it.

At a news conference introducing the latest All-Star addition to the Yankees’ store bought lineup of eight-figure superstars, Hal Steinbrenner, the less idiotic of George Steinbrenner’s two sons who are now running the Bronx Bombers, told fans, the media and other executives – specifically Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio – to butt out.

According to the New York Daily News, Hal said: “I feel that this organization does a lot for the industry as a whole, between the merchandising we sell, the tickets we sell, the licensing. … “If some of the owners are upset that we’re trying to invest in our team, which we do for the fans, then I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.  We had money come off the payroll, so we had money to spend, whether people like it or not.”

This came partly in response to Attanasio speculating that Major League Baseball might need a salary cap to counteract the Yankees’ deep pockets.

Newsflash: It’s only going to get worse. The Yankees’ resources have long dwarfed those of the rest of the league, with their YES Network and big city resources. Now, starting in 2009, they replace the historic-but-dated Yankee Stadium with a new, top-notch version of the ballpark complete with all the modern amenities.

Think what that new venue is going to do to the Bombers’ bottom line. Crain’s New York projects that their revenue will double.

Robert Boland, a sports agent and a professor at New York University’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, told Crain’s “The new Yankee Stadium will change the economics of all baseball.”

The vast majority of the other Major League Baseball teams simply have not been able to match the money the Yankees can put back into operations. Calling on owners to dig into their own pockets to fund their payrolls to the tune of an additional $50 million to $75 million to – in some cases – $150 million or more it would take to match the spending the Yankees do on salaries every year is simply unrealistic.

Perhaps they will do it once or twice when they really have an opportunity to make a signing that will allow them to compete – but to expect it year in and year out is unrealistic. In most cases, these owners didn’t become the rich and powerful people they are by making bad business decisions.

Something needs to happen to save this game. If the Yankees are allowed to continue simply outbid teams for players such as CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and AJ Burnett – and possibly Manny Ramirez – which they certainly have the resources to do – the competition gap is going to continue to grow until there really is no point in even turning on the game.

So, as Milwaukee’s Attanasio waxes on about his ideas for what it will take to save some semblance of competitive balance in baseball, I say “Suck it,” Steinbrenner.

You may do a lot of great things for the game. But if you are allowed to continue upping the financial ante year after year after year, you are going to eventually bring the game to its knees at the same time – whether you see it or not.