XM MLB Chat: MLB noted Hank's comments to remind Red Sox of gag rule

3/1/11, "Red Sox principal owner John Henry, in an interview on (WEEI's)The Big Show, said that he was fined $500,000 by Major League Baseball for comments that he made about the sport's current financial system. In late-2009, Henry told the Boston Globe that

"seven chronically uncompetitive teams, five of whom have had baseball’s highest operating profits,"

had received over $1 billion in revenue sharing money.

Major League Baseball took objection to the public comments -- which, Henry noted, were subsequently validated by leaked documents about team profits -- and fined the Sox owner. As such, he was relucant to discuss the state of baseball's economics.

"There’s not much I can say, because the last time I made a comment, I was fined $500,000. The large markets aren’t allowed to give their opinions," said Henry. "Did you know I was fined $500,000? ... I made statements which turned out to be true, or at least there were various documents that were leaked after that. But anyway, the large clubs are not allowed to talk about it."

Henry said that the Sox received a letter from MLB following recent comments by Hank Steinbrenner that voiced similar criticism of the revenue sharing system. He also noted that

small-market teams are allowed to comment on baseball's economic system.

For a complete transcript of Henry's interview -- which included his thoughts on the acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, the failed pursuit of Mark Teixeira, the futures of GM Theo Epstein, manager Terry Francona and Fenway Park, visit the Full Count blog.