The July 31 trade that sent Casey McGehee to the Yankees and Chad Qualls to the Pirates shows that revenue sharing has worked in baseball.

Pittsburgh sent $225,000 to New York to complete the deal. The Pirates opened the season with baseball's 26th highest payroll and the Yankees spend more than any team in baseball.

"The combination of revenue sharing, the competitive-balance tax and the debt-service rule gives us the wherewithal to field teams that [could] compete for championships," Pirates president Frank Coonelly said during Spring Training when asked about the system.

"Certainly, we cannot afford to make mistakes that a team like the Yankees can afford to make, we cannot afford to commit $180 million to any one player, and we need to work harder and make smarter decisions than clubs with larger revenue streams. But all of this is a challenge that we relish."