The idea of a
Major League Baseball (MLB) Salary Cap seems like a simple concept, yet it may never happen in the current system for some odd reason that I will never know or understand. Currently, salary caps exist in the other four major American sporting associations - NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLS. The dumb-asses in charge of MLB believe that a salary cap is unnecessary because in their demented eyes, a fair competitive balance is already present (I shall prove otherwise). I have a lot of gripes with MLB, but the lack of competitive balance (since there is no salary cap) really makes it difficult for me to watch professional baseball games.
Conclusions:
- An MLB team with Top 5 payroll in a given year will have at least a 50% chance of making the playoffs.
- The likelihood of an MLB team with a Top 10 payroll in a given year making the playoffs continues to increase each season.
So basically, if you are an MLB owner and you spend more money than your opponent, your team has a much greater chance of success. Not spending money means your team has little to no chance of making the playoffs. That's about as simple as I can put it. It goes much deeper than that, but I don't think I need to bore you with all of the details.
The bottom line is that the high spenders in MLB have a huge advantage over the low spenders, and it is my belief that a salary cap would stop that trend in a heartbeat -see the
National Football League (NFL). The Redskins owner (Dan Synder) and Cowboys owner (Jerry Jones) have all the money in the world to buy all of the best players, but can't because the NFL salary cap restricts the amount a team can spend on players. Thanks to NFL's salary cap system, teams from the smaller markets (Bengals, Lions, and Browns) have an equal opportunity to compete every year. The NFL really does have a great system - take a hint Major League Baseball.
