"Tanking" can mean different things for different people. If there was such a thing it would have more to do with the front office not the players on the field. And I firmly believe there was some of that when the Rams needed poor attendance at Anaheim in order-in part-to justify a move to St. Louis. I think baseball is more vulnerable to an ownership's financial interests outweighing being a playoff contender.
Of course one way to eliminate the attraction to "tanking" (i.e. Caleb Williams) would be to institute Soccer's Relegation system. "Relegation in soccer is a system of transfering the lowest-ranked teams in a division at the end of a season down to a lower division for the next soccer season."
