If You Ain't Cheatin', you Ain't Tryin'

The Cheater's Guide to Baseball Blog is getting kudos for pointing out that the Twins' Torrii Hunter violated an anti-corruption rule when he recently sent the Royals a few bottles of Dom as a reward for knocking the Tigers out during the final series of the season last year, allowing the Twins to take the AL Central.

The rule -- 21(b) -- prohibits "[a]ny player or person connected with a Club who shall offer or give any gift or reward to a player or person connected with another Club for services rendered or supposed to be or to have been rendered in defeating or attempting to defeat a competing Club . . ."

So, Hunter can't give the Royals a gift as an incentive for beating the Tigers. OK. That's fair. I understand, and if you don't, Zumsteg explains it at the Cheater's guide.

Question: does this still apply when a Club (the Yankees) pays another Club (the Devil Rays) for services rendered (keeping its payroll low) in order to help the Yankees defeat competing clubs (the Devils Rays)? Because that's basically MLB's revenue sharing system. Maybe that's OK because it's approved by the Fox Network or something.