[SteveR]

It's not MLB that decides to put more money into the Yanks pockets, it's the fans. It's the loyal NY fans that buy tickets to games, buy food/beer, buy jerseys, and all other stuff that adds to the Yanks annual profit margin over other teams. If other cities don't care for their home team and don't want to show up for their games, like what happened in Montreal, then it's not the Yanks fault that they have more fans who are willing to contribute to the team. And a few years ago when the Yankees decided to build a new stadium, MLB offered to give a percentage of the cost but they said no, and the Yanks are building their new stadium out of their own pockets and told MLB to distribute that money amongst the other teams.

And Boston has nearly the same payroll as the Yankees. They only differ by about 1%. So to call Boston the "underdog" is rediculous.