Alan Schwarz of the NY Times took a look at the growing disparity between the American and National leagues. He not only talks about how the AL has dominated in the all-star game, World Series, and interleague play, but how players seem to improve as soon as they get out of the AL.
It is one thing for the A.L. to have dominated in recent All-Star Games (13-game unbeaten streak), World Series (8 of the last 12) and interleague play (a .566 winning percentage, equivalent to a 92-70 full-season record, since 2005). It is quite another for executives to have watched individual players recently turn into Keith Hernandez or Enzo Hernandez simply by switching leagues.
In the article Schwarz goes on to say the level of talent on the Yankees and Red Sox has forced other AL teams to compete, therefore bringing more talent to the league.
One A.L. general manager, who was granted anonymity because commenting on other clubs could court accusations of collusion, said that the mass of wherewithal in Boston and in New York pulled talent to the entire league.
Not only do those two teams spend lavishly to acquire and retain good players, but teams outside the A.L. East — in part because the wild-card postseason berth usually stays there — generally must win their divisions to scratch into the playoffs. By contrast, the N.L. is more wide-open, with the Phillies, the Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers good but not strategy-changing.
“Teams are forced into a certain dynamic,” the general manager said. “They’re driven to do things, because the Yankees and Red Sox drive that league.”
I don't have much to add, but there's no doubt in my mind that this is the case. The DH cannot be blamed for all of this. But the NL still has a chance. If the Phillies, who are the closest thing to an AL team the NL has seen in a long time, continue to win and make a few more World Series in next few years, the rest of the league will be forced to catch up.
