Dear Major League Baseball: Salary Cap Please!

I saw the news scroll across the bottom of the television screen: Chicago White Sox claim Alex Rios off waivers.

Wait a minute—you mean to tell me that the Blue Jays just waived a two-time all-star outfielder and got nothing in return?

I know the guy is struggling to live up to the terms of that massive contract, but they just outright cut a guy who has averaged almost 20 home runs and 25 stolen bases in the past two years. And he is just reaching his prime at 28-years-old no less.

Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi insisted the move was not "a financial dump" but went on in his press conference to further discuss things such as "financial flexibility" and tough economic times.

But Rios is just the tipping point of a bigger problem that is symptomatic of what is wrong with baseball.

I just got through watching my hometown Indians trade two Cy Young award winners in two years, along with their captain and perennial all-star catcher in a salary purge.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have just one every-day starter left from their lineup to begin 2008.

The Washington Nationals are in a state of perpetual irrelevancy.

Fans in Kansas City and Cincinnati know (if they are honest with themselves) that their team is out of the pennant race when spring training starts.

Toronto, Houston, San Diego, Oakland, Seattle, and Baltimore do not, and will not, have serious aspirations for a title any time soon.

Even in Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona, San Francisco, Florida, and Milwaukee—where their teams have had semi-success building from within—fans know that there will be a fire sale the moment their star players become arbitration eligible.

Detroit, Atlanta and Texas? The window will close fast if it has not already.

This may make fans in "pretender" cities mad, but the only teams with an honest to goodness hope of winning a World Series title are Boston, New York Yankees, L.A. Angels, L.A. Dodgers, St. Louis, and Philadelphia (maybe the two teams from Chicago).

They were the only teams even considering adding salary for a stretch run. Every other team was "dumping" or in a holding pattern hoping to make good with what they had.

That's six to eight teams out of 32 franchises.

For purposes of this discussion, I have purposely left off the Mets because they have money, but they just have idiots running the franchise.

Teams like Boston and New York sign big names to big contracts. If it doesn’t work out or the player gets injured, they just replace him with another big contract.

Other teams cannot afford to make those "mistakes." An injury or lack of productivity from one big contract will put most big league franchises back three to five years.

The network big-wigs or the league offices may think it's a great idea to have only big market clubs compete for championships. But in the long run, they are killing the sport due to apathy around the rest of the country.

Part of the reason the NFL and the NBA have passed baseball as “America’s Sport” is that the salary cap has given small market cities at least a “chance” to be competitive.

Outside of some poorly run NFL/NBA teams, most football and basketball fans don’t have to wait 10 years for their team to reach the playoffs.

In fact, since the NFL has instituted the only "hard" salary cap, they have taken over the sports world in terms of total fan interest.

It’s time for Major League Baseball and the MLB Players' Union to do what is best in the interest of the sport. That is, finally institute a salary cap.

If there has to be a salary minimum or contraction, so be it.

The Union may want to fight the idea (as well as ownership of the aforementioned 8 teams), but they will be doing themselves an enormous favor for the future of the game.

They will also be doing the other 700 or so other players who are not on the Yankees or Red Sox payroll a chance to join in the riches.

Baseball fans don't really care about steroids. They will show up to their respective stadiums if they know that the product on the field actually can win something.

Major League Baseball, if you want to get back to your previous standing as the Number One Sport in America, you should heed these words: "You need a salary cap!"