BOSTON -- Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig told the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday that baseball projected operating losses of $232 million for the 2001 season. Yet, just days later at the winter meetings, an official with the Toronto Blue Jays -- the team with the worst operating loss of any franchise -- said his club's payroll for 2002 season, following arbitration, would fall around $80 million, an increase from 2001.

If baseball's numbers are to be taken as serious signs that the sport is in trouble, then teams with the biggest losses could be expected to slash their payroll. But indications from the winter meetings are the majority of teams will continue to spend in light of the losses, because the business of baseball has been more about the business of competing than the business of profits versus losses.

	“	Fourteen million dollars can be swallowed up pretty quickly. I think fans think 'Woo-hoo! That means that we can get three guys at $5 million apiece.' But will that (profit) be invested directly and give us a $14 million boost in our budget? I can tell you that's not going to happen. ”
		— Brewers manager Davey Lopes

While there are questions as to whether the 25 teams in the red lost as much as the league reported to Congress, the bottom line is that the Arizona Diamondbacks' management chose to absorb large operating losses in exchange for the chance of winning the World Series. And for most teams, the drive to be competitive numbs the feeling that comes with financial losses, despite Selig's claim that the sport needs to be "fixed."

Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi, whose team reported a projected 2001 operating loss of $52.9 million ($43.1 million after revenue sharing), has made two deals that appear to trim payroll. Last week, he sent closer Billy Koch to the A's for minor leaguers Eric Hinske and Justin Miller. On Monday, the Blue Jays unloaded Alex Gonzalez, who signed a four-year, $20 million deal last season, to the Cubs primarily for Felix Heredia, who is in the final season of a two-year, $3 million contract.

But Ricciardi, hired by the team just a month ago, said that 2001 season losses had little to do with the Gonzalez trade and that money saved could be reinvested elsewhere.

"From a competitive standpoint, it's never too good to see yourself at the bottom of anything," Ricciardi said of the Blue Jays' reported operating losses. "We're not going to change things overnight. We're just going to keep plugging away at it."

Currently, the Blue Jays' payroll is between $71 million and $73 million, and Ricciardi said it likely will be around $80 million by the start of the 2002 season, if there is one. The Blue Jays opened the 2001 season with a payroll of $75.8 million.

"You have to believe that if a team like the Toronto Blue Jays is going to maintain its payroll level going forward, that's pretty solid evidence that there's much more positive to the business of baseball than their balance sheets showed us last week," said agent Jeff Moorad, who is at the meetings to tout free-agent Juan Gonzalez, his high-priced client.

The Cleveland Indians, who started last season with a $92 million payroll, are in the process of cutting up to $15 million -- reportedly due to the demands of team owner Larry Dolan. But Tuesday's deal that shipped second baseman Roberto Alomar to the Mets for Matt Lawton, Jerrod Riggan, Alex Escobar and two others, only saved $1 million to $2 million in payroll, according to Indians general manager Mark Shapiro. He said the Indians' reported losses of $14.2 million -- despite finishing third in the majors in gate revenue -- "will not be a factor in our decisions."

"Our primary goal is not to reduce payroll," Shapiro said. "It's to make the Indians competitive for the 2002 season." Trading Omar Vizquel, who is scheduled to make $6 million each of the next two seasons, might negate Shapiro's words in the eyes of Indians fans.

"I would have to think that teams would lower payroll given the losses that baseball is claiming," said Clark Griffith, whose family owned the Minnesota Twins from 1919 through 1983. "It's not like dropping payroll is admitting that your organization is not doing well. They all say they're losing money, so now it seems like it's dumb if they don't make an attempt to lower costs."

The Mets might have lost $7.3 million last season after revenue sharing, according to the data presented in Washington last week, but Mets general manager Steve Phillips on Tuesday was talking about staying competitive instead of breaking even.

"Being in an environment where it is necessary to compete today, we thought (the Alomar trade) was worth the price," Phillips said. The Mets' offseason deals -- adding Alomar and David Justice and subtracting Robin Ventura and Matt Lawton -- have increased payroll by only approximately $1 million.

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers, who were fourth in league operating profits at $14.4 million before revenue sharing and interest, won't be helped by their money-making ways, according to Brewers manager Davey Lopes.

"Fourteen million dollars can be swallowed up pretty quickly," Lopes said. "I think fans think 'Woo-hoo! That means that we can get three guys at $5 million apiece.' But will that (profit) be invested directly and give us a $14 million boost in our budget? I can tell you that's not going to happen."

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn.com.