With spring training in full swing, some professional baseball players aren’t just working on their swings or their conditioning, some are also taking the time to get to know their new teammates and coaches. Part of playing the game of baseball is realizing that the sport is also a business; and the business end of it means contracts, trades and new signings.

HSH.com took a look at nine notable Major League Baseball players who switch markets this offseason and compared their housing costs in their old and new cities.

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My colleagues and I at HSH have asked and debated over this question for most of the year: “To what cost are we willing to promote home ownership?” As close to the market as we are, we fully recognize the value of home ownership. However, our lawmakers have steadfastly promoted it above any other option despite a housing crisis and a soaring national budget. The question is: “When is enough enough?”

Washington has developed multi-billion dollar programs to modify and refinance troubled mortgages, subsidize mortgage rates, we’ve thrown massive lifelines to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a $10 billion homebuyer tax credit extension, and the list goes on.

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