While there is a new crop of young players who combine spectacular on-field performances with appealing personalities, none has reached quite the same level of star power—something M.L.B. is hoping to change. At the height of his popularity, Jeter earned nine million dollars a year in endorsements from the likes of Nike, Gatorade, Ford, and Movado; he regularly topped lists of the most powerful, the most marketable, and the most recognizable professional athletes in the world.

Bud Selig has been giddy watching baseball teams attract bigger and bigger local television deals. More local TV revenue to a team means more money for the league to spread via revenue sharing and greater competitive balance. And Bug Selig sure loves competitive balance. On a recent visit to PNC Park, Major League Baseball’s commissioner told Pittsburgh Pirates broadcasters that he got “goosebumps” watching the Reds and Pirates square off in last year’s postseason.

A federal appeals court in California ruled two weeks ago that MLB's antitrust exemption was alive and well, and broad enough to protect the league from charges by San Jose, Calif., that it violated federal antitrust law by refusing to allow the Oakland A's to move to San Jose. But across the country, a federal appeals court in New York has left in place a district court decision rejecting MLB's antitrust exemption in a case challenging the way MLB divvies up the U.S. into broadcast territories for each team.

Major League Baseball is breathing a huge sigh of relief after a federal appeals court upheld a broad scope of the league's exemption from federal antitrust law on Thursday. But the league's win comes at a high price for the Oakland A's—and adds to the literal shitstorm the A's are in at the old and dilapidated Oakland Coliseum.

When deciding who will represent them in contract negotiations, professional baseball players can choose from hundreds of certified agents. There are big shops like Boras Corporation, Excel Sports Management (Casey Close) and Wasserman Media Group (Arn Tellum), and smaller agencies like Frye McCann, Sosnick Cobbe and Jet Sports Management.

Newly-elected MLB commissioner Rob Manfred throws out the first pitch at the Little League World Series on Wednesday. Last week, Major League Baseball’s 30 owners elected Rob Manfred as the new commissioner of baseball. Manfred will succeed Bud Selig, who will retire in January. Manfred has worked at MLB since 1998, first as executive vice president of labor relations and, most recently, as chief operating officer.

A federal judge in New York ruled on Friday that Major League Baseball will face trial for violations of federal antitrust laws by stemming the exclusive broadcast territories for each of its 30 teams. Several regional sports networks and cable and satellite companies that benefit from the exclusive territories will also face trial on antitrust charges.

Last week, we reported on the ongoing bankruptcy saga involving Comcast SportsNet Houston, the joint venture created and owned by Comcast Sports Group, the Houston Astros and the Houston Rockets. More than a year after its launch, CSN Houston hadn’t reached carriage fee deals with any cable or satellite company in the Houston area, other than Comcast.

A fight between the Orioles and Nationals over MASN’s television rights fees has been brewing for years. MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) was created as a form of financial compensation to the Orioles when MLB moved the Expos from Montreal to Washington, D.C. to become the Nationals. MASN is majority owned by the Orioles but has exclusive rights to broadcast Orioles and Nationals games.

Sports Business Journal published an articleon Monday sounding the alarm about the Los Angeles Dodgers’ plummeting local TV ratings. Last season, the Dodgers averaged 226,000 households per game telecast. This season, the average is 40,000 households. Of course the Dodgers’ ratings have plummeted.

Major League Baseball’s signing period for international prospects kicked off on Wednesday and will continue until June 15, 2015. Teams may sign players residing outside the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico who have or will turn 16 by September 1 of this year. Just a few years ago, teams were allowed to spend as much as they wanted to develop and sign international prospects.

Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill into law on Friday that gives local governments access to $13 million annually in funding for the construction or renovation of a professional sports facility. To be eligible, the sports facility must be owned and operated by a local government or owned by a private entity that’s located on land owned by a local government.

Major League Baseball asked a federal court this week to toss out claims by several fans that the league’s broadcast territories violate antitrust laws. The fans claim that MLB’s divvying up of the United States and Canada into exclusive broadcast markets means that regional sports networks need not compete with each other to telecast a team’s games in the local market.

So while we lament the loss of these talents to our favorite team and to the game, the players face a troubling question: how will Tommy John surgery and the typical 12-18 month recovery time affect their short-term earning power? Let’s start with the “lucky ones”: Matt Moore, Martin Perez, Cory Luebke and Dylan Bundy.

They’re no longer the scrappy losers of yore—so isn’t it time the Giants start spending like winners? The first Saturday in February at AT&T Park is cool and sunny—the kind of day we dream of in July, when we're socked in by fog, shivering in the decks. There's not a game this afternoon, but the scene at Giants FanFest is a lot like what you'd find during other baseball events at the stadium—30,000 fans decked out in orange and black, jostling to see their favorite players.

Two years after signing a new local television contract with Fox Sports San Diego, the Padres will have their games carried by all the major cable and satellite operators in the team’s viewing area. The same cannot be said for the new Dodgers network called SportsNetLA, or for the year-old Comcast SportsNet Houston, which broadcasts Astros games.