Today on Baseball Prospectus: MLB Meets the Recession

With the economy dominating the headlines, sports leagues are far from impervious to the fallout of what is now officially a recession. Today on Baseball Prospectus, I take an in-depth look at how the economy will shape the 2009 season, even before it starts. From layoffs in the front office, to restructuring of ticket prices, to how clubs are approaching the free agent market, it is business unusual for MLB.The question is, will locked in centralized revenues from television deals, the upcoming MLB Network launch, revenues from the WBC, and other sources help buffer the league? As reported in The Ledger Domain: MLB Meets the Recession:Large-revenue-making clubs may barely feel the recession's impact, while low- to mid-revenue makers might be bracing for a collision of major proportions. Even with strong centralized revenues, all of the clubs are approaching this season much more cautiously than ever before. Could the market rate for free agents be set lower under the auspices o...