Very interesting analysis by Bleacher Report:

bq. "The green line is the Yankees, and the other lines reflect the rest of the league [ranked by spending] at five-team intervals (the No. 5 team, the No. 10 team and so forth). Notice that through 1993, the top 20 or so teams are relatively closely bunched.... Even after the Yankees became the (almost) constant No. 1 team, the pace of salary separation between the charted teams remains fairly constant for eight years.... But then what has happened since [2001] is clearly illustrated. While the spacing of the other intervals remained fairly consistent, the Yankees payroll skyrockets... [and is now a] full 75 percent higher than the No. 5 team in the league."

The Red Sox have largely matched this spending, but as the graph shows, everyone else has not been able to match. And the unbalanced schedule of playing your own division's teams 19 times and other teams 6 times has made things worse. Result? In the last 11 years, only 1 team other than the Yankees or Red Sox has even made the playoffs from the American League East.

Ultimately, this could lead to folded franchises in Toronto and Tampa, and no-one willing to be in that division. Which is probably what it will take before any changes are made. Baseball isn't 30 or so individual businesses; it's really one business, in competition with other entertainment options across the country. But that isn't its financial structure, and the sport typically needs near-death experiences to produce any change.