MLB: Time for a Salary Cap

Contributor Written on December 17, 2007

Depending on where you go, a salary cap in baseball is either a huge mistake or a savior of the game.

If you went up north to Boston or New York, it would be considered an enormous error, in Minnesota or Tampa Bay it would be an absolute blessing.

I believe that a salary cap would help level the playing field for most teams. Everybody is complaining about steroids destroying competitive balance, but huge payrolls do the same thing.

Consider this: the most popular sport in the country by far is football. One of the big reasons the National Football League is so popular is because for the most part, the teams are equal. People love the thrill of knowing their team is able to beat almost any other team—something that's not always provided by Major League Baseball.

In baseball, small-market teams and their fans are deprived of even the chance for a winning community. Even if a low-budget team like the Devil Rays or the Royals can build a strong foundation through their minor league clubs, once those players' contracts are up, these teams cannot afford to re-sign them, leaving them to go to the Yankees, or the other high-budget teams.

For example, Johan Santana was brought up through the Twins system. Right when he enters his prime, his contract ends, and the Twins have to look to trade him to the Red Sox and Yankees because they cannot afford the hundred-million dollars he desires.

Baseball needs a salary cap.

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written on December 17, 2007 Sports

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