The financial break down among the major league teams resembles the order each team will finish the season. In recent years, middle class teams like the Giants, Blue Jays, and Padres have been able to compete with large market teams, but other small market teams have had no chance. In the National Basketball Association and the National Football League, the owners and commissioners have worked together to create a salary cap that allows all teams to be able to compete on a level playing field. MLB has no existing cap. Consequently, salaries are out of control.
Free agents go to the highest bidders.
The difference in having a cap is equality. In the NBA or the NFL, it's all about who has the best front office or best coaching staffs, and the creativity of the owner to get good players that ultimately decides if they can compete. In MLB it's all about who's got the most jack. Here is a scenario to help illustrate the disparity in Major League Baseball. Since the early 1980s the Montreal Expos have been known to develop some of the best minor league talent in professional baseball, but as the 90s have rolled on, the big market teams have taken all of the Expos home grown talent.