Last week in Arizona the general managers of the American Major League baseball clubs met to discuss draft arrangements - the trading of players which is allowed by the game's ruling body - as they look toward the new season.

As they met for their talks, the men who wield much of the power in the game were haunted by a statistic which spelled out just how much money players are earning from the game.

For the first time the total earnings has topped the $1billion mark. As well as that, they were coming to terms with the fact that last year's World Series champions, the Florida Marlins, were in the process of dumping many of their top players because they simply could not afford the salaries they promised in order to take the sport's top prize.

As new York Times' columnist Harvey Araton wrote regarding the departure of hitter Moises Alou, whose $5m a year contract proved too rich for the Florida club: ''Hero today, gone tomorrow. Alou will be followed out of Miami by more multi-millionaire Marlins as the champs go on the cheap after payroll inflation brought them 15 minutes of fame.

''Florida is now baseball's poster franchise, its leading example of volatility, of how too many teams operate with a vision that is scarcely past their nose. Yesterday, the Marlins were the toast of culturally-rich South Florida, and many points south. Today, they are toast.''

As I read that curt dismissal I realised that there was a warning here for our own national game where 'pay inflation' is a problem which will soon have to be addressed. As salaries soar, clubs will find it more and more difficult to meet the wage bills most of them cannot afford.

I am not talking only Partick Thistle here. Their problems have been well aired, and it is obvious that they cannot afford to continue down the same path which will lead to self destruction.

It has to be obvious to most clubs - and the new League set-up is no panacea for the financial ills of the game - that they are in a game they can no longer afford.

Former Hearts' chairman Wallace Mercer used to talk about ''sitting at the big table'' but even the ebullient Mercer soon realised that attempting to compete with the riches available to Rangers and Celtic was not on the agenda of provincial clubs.

If you talk to him now he will tell you that, and admit that he made the mistake of thinking that Hearts could be up there. They couldn't compete financially then,and they cannot do so now.

If the wages are not curbed soon then they will rush further out of control, and the premier league clubs will be facing the crisis which is engulfing some of the American baseball clubs.

The salaries are rising dramatically, and as a newly-published book points out, footballers are now rivalling other major sports' stars in the table of earnings.

They have not reached the standard of the baseball players yet - but football must beware!

Last season in the States Albert Belle ,of the Chicago White Sox, was the major earner with a $10m salary (just over #6m). But there were 14 players who earned $7m dollars or more (around #4.5m) and the average Major League salary had reached a staggering #$1.3m (not far off #1m).

In essence, the meeting at Scottsdale saw the probable demise of the Marlins as a major force. They increased their wage bill over the season by $28.3m (#18m) and now realise that their policy - the winning policy as it happens - must be changed.

As the general manager of the New York Mets, Steve Phillips, pointed out: ''When a team that won the World Series ends making a wholesale reduction in salary, it becomes an interesting proposition.''

Interesting for the future of the sport, and interesting when placed against the demands being made by the players.

The Yankees were waiting to find out if long-serving star Bernie Williams would accept their offer of $37.5m for a five- year deal. Williams may not and, instead, sign only a one-year deal because his agent believes the money on offer is not enough.

Meanwhile, the Mets were preparing a contract offer of $61m over six years for Gary Sheffield, another of the men who may leave the Marlins in what the United States press have dubbed the Marlins' ''fire sale''.

Basically, the moral which our own football clubs should read into all of this is that they must learn to live within their means. If they do not do so, then their moment in the sun, whether it be for a title win, a Cup victory, or even simply a place in Europe, will be a bridge too far for their bank managers.

This does not apply to the most powerful clubs. In the States the autocratic owner of the Yankees, who won the World Series two seasons back, will always hold sway when it comes to offering seriously big bucks. He will have money for star players when the smaller clubs are heading back into the shadowy world of the also rans.

That scenario could be replayed here. There is no way I wish to be the harbinger of doom, but salaries are too high and players will have to realise that they have a responsibility to the game as a whole, instead of just to their own bulging wallets.

Rangers and Celtic can afford to meet their tabs - though they will tell you that income from sponsorship and commercial activities are now essential to keep them on an even financial keel - but probably they are on their own, as they have always been.

The story of the Marlins' fall from grace is one which should be noted by the Old Firm's would-be challengers. Sure, the Marlins took the World Series. Once. And at what cost?

They are now trying to rid themselves of their best players because success was simply too rich a diet and, as Wallace Mercer found out, there is no room at ''the big table'' unless you have the cash back-up which is an essential to joining the game.