
Over the next 24-48 hours, you will read countless well-reasoned pieces on the Twins and what went wrong over the last three games – how they were unlucky at times, their own worst enemies at others. You will hear about the Yankees' postseason grit, savvy, moxie and clutch play.
And you will hear about ways in which the Twins can close that gap, improve their shortcomings and maybe – just maybe – win a playoff game again this century.
All of those things will have merit and elements of truth.
But let's not kid ourselves. The main reason the Twins lost (again) to the Yankees (again) is that they're playing in a system tilted against them.
The baseball economy mirrors the U.S. economy. And the chances of achieving playoff dreams when you're the financial underdog are as lopsided as the chances of achieving the American Dream under the same circumstances.
The Yankees have better players and win more often because they can afford better players. They always will as long as baseball decides not to have a salary cap that levels the playing field in terms of how much teams can spend.
The Twins don't spend as much as the Yankees because they don't generate nearly as much revenue as the Yankees.
They don't spend as much money as the Yankees for the same reason that you don't live in a house as nice as your wealthier neighbor. (And the chances are greater than ever that your wealthy neighbor's parents had more money than your parents).