Major League Baseball clearly needs a salary cap. The discrepancy between the "Haves", and "Have Nots" is appalling.
Consider this year's winter meetings. The New York Yankees, with the owner who has to be labeled the goat for ruining the game of baseball by paying outrageous salaries, are preparing to offer lefthander CC Sabathia a $140 million dollar, six year contract. Fine, the Yankees are going to get one good pitcher to upgrade their staff. Every team should be allowed to do that, if able. Now, I read, that the Yankees also want free agent right hander AJ Burnett, who has reportedly been offered a four or five year, $15 million dollar a year deal by the Atlanta Braves. According to the article I read, the Yankees, in addition to getting Sabathia, are prepared to quote "Go higher than the $15 mil a year offered by the Braves, and "blow Burnett away with an offer that the Braves wont be able to match".
I'm sorry. While we all know this is a capitalist society, no one team should be allowed to have such an outrageous payroll, and outbid every other team, to always get the best players. There needs to be more of a level playing field in baseball. Forget the "luxury tax" that is imposed on the Yankees. That does nothing. The Yankees simply pay the tax, and maintain $200 million dollar payrolls every season anyway.
I say, level the playing field. There should be a rule in major league baseball where no one team can have a payroll of anything more than $100 million. This way, maybe salaries will come down just a little bit, and there will be a bit more discrepancy in smaller market teams getting good players. Perhaps, as a compromise, have the "salary cap" be adjusted for cost of living increases each season, like federal workers receive. Say, give the team a 3% increase allowable each year, so have a $100 mil payroll go to 103, and then 109, etc etc.
This will likely never happen, but it should. With the average person struggling so mightly nowadays, it is deplorable how much money the players earn, and what the allowed payroll of the Yankees, and the other big market teams is. The Yankees, as most fans know, are the biggest offenders.
Thoughts on this?
Mitch
Consider this year's winter meetings. The New York Yankees, with the owner who has to be labeled the goat for ruining the game of baseball by paying outrageous salaries, are preparing to offer lefthander CC Sabathia a $140 million dollar, six year contract. Fine, the Yankees are going to get one good pitcher to upgrade their staff. Every team should be allowed to do that, if able. Now, I read, that the Yankees also want free agent right hander AJ Burnett, who has reportedly been offered a four or five year, $15 million dollar a year deal by the Atlanta Braves. According to the article I read, the Yankees, in addition to getting Sabathia, are prepared to quote "Go higher than the $15 mil a year offered by the Braves, and "blow Burnett away with an offer that the Braves wont be able to match".
I'm sorry. While we all know this is a capitalist society, no one team should be allowed to have such an outrageous payroll, and outbid every other team, to always get the best players. There needs to be more of a level playing field in baseball. Forget the "luxury tax" that is imposed on the Yankees. That does nothing. The Yankees simply pay the tax, and maintain $200 million dollar payrolls every season anyway.
I say, level the playing field. There should be a rule in major league baseball where no one team can have a payroll of anything more than $100 million. This way, maybe salaries will come down just a little bit, and there will be a bit more discrepancy in smaller market teams getting good players. Perhaps, as a compromise, have the "salary cap" be adjusted for cost of living increases each season, like federal workers receive. Say, give the team a 3% increase allowable each year, so have a $100 mil payroll go to 103, and then 109, etc etc.
This will likely never happen, but it should. With the average person struggling so mightly nowadays, it is deplorable how much money the players earn, and what the allowed payroll of the Yankees, and the other big market teams is. The Yankees, as most fans know, are the biggest offenders.
Thoughts on this?
Mitch
