With contraction, less really would be less. (Baseball/Insider).(elimination of teams)

One general manager says teams already are offering him trades based on whom they might select in a dispersal draft. Other baseball people are speculating that Marlins righthander Josh Beckett or Expos outfielder Vladimir Guerrero would be the first pick if the Marlins or Expos are disbanded.

Such a draft would stir far greater interest than the 1997 expansion draft, bringing the Hot Stove League to a full boil. There's only one problem: If contraction occurs, it almost certainly would mean that Major League Baseball is setting its house on fire. And once again, the owners would be holding the matches.

The last thing baseball needs is another unseemly ...