Best and the worst of the baseball offseason.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Jim Salisbury

PHILADELPHIA _ Spring training begins in less than two weeks. Let's take a look back at the baseball winter of 2002-03.

The new economy. The new basic agreement between owners and players calls for a tough tax on payrolls of more than $117 million and increased revenue sharing. That and a bad economy led many teams to cut back on spending.

Exceptions included the Phillies, who boldly decided to spend some of their new stadium revenue a year early, the Yankees and the Mets.

Salaries fell, and just two winters after Alex Rodriguez shocked the sports world with a $252 million deal, only five players _ Jim Thome, Tom Glavine, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux and Ivan Rodriguez _ topped the $10 million mark in average annual salary.

Falling salaries and a glut of free agents led the players' association to launch an inquiry into whether the owners were once again guilty of collusion.

What new economy? At the start of the off-season, the Yankees were looking to cut payroll. Eventually, the realization that his team hadn't won a World Series in two whole years overcame owner George Steinbrenner, and before you knew ...