Opening Day Economics

On the op-ed page of the NY Times, baseball economist JC Bradbury explains "What Really Ruined Baseball." Not steroids, but expansion. According to Bradbury, hallowed records have been falling because the increase in the number of teams has diluted the talent pool. He writes:

Today, the variance in quality of major league pitchers, based on E.R.A., is at an all-time high. By letting in the riffraff for baseball’s elite to exploit, expansion increased the likelihood of great achievements. Without even bringing steroids into the discussion, it is no surprise that some already fine hitters performed even better after the early 1990s.