The Biggest Issue With Major League Baseball: Parity In Baseball Part 1

This will be a series of articles of a research paper I did in the fall of 2009. Today I am going to hit on how the current system in Major League Baseball is not fair.  In part two I will discuss how the current system is fair. Then I will offer suggestions on how to fix the current system in Major League Baseball. 

How is the current system not fair?   Teams like the Yankees can spend freely and exceed the maximum payroll for a season with a fine that is nothing but loose change when compared to the profits that the Yankees make in a given season. The Yankees knowingly spend above the maximum because they know there is no real salary cap in baseball. They will pay a fine for over spending and go about their way. In 2009 the Yankees will likely pay MLB a fine of $20,000,000, turn a profit of $1,000,000, and possess a World Series ring. (ESPN)  Not too bad a deal for an additional $20,000,000!

Smaller market teams complain that they cannot compete because the Luxury Tax does not place a hard cap on big market teams. During the 2008 off season the Atlanta Braves offered pitcher A.J. Burnet a 5 year contract worth $80,000,00 which amounts to $16,000,000 a season. The Yankees countered the Braves offer with an $82,500,00 contract. The Braves could not make a counter offer because the Atlanta market is not comparable to that of the New York market. The Red Sox in 2008 tried to sign Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia but not even the Red Sox could outbid the Yankees for the talent. It should be noted that the Red Sox did not support some form of salary cap in Major League Baseball. With the Luxury Tax some large market teams can compete with the Yankees and Mets but even some of the other the large markets like the Red Sox and Braves cannot compete with the Yankees. What this means for teams like the Braves and Red Sox is that they sign talent below what they wanted and often overpay for that talent because some of the smaller market teams like the Reds and Rays run up the bidding!   The smaller market teams are left with what I call the scraps of what is best. Sometime, if a team is smart and scouts properly they can sign a player considered a steal that the other teams failed to pursue. Overall, the system of signing free agents is not fair.  Without a hard salary cap players are paid over their market value and the teams with smaller revenues cannot get the talent they need to be successful.

A second issue is the Luxury Cap itself. The tax money is distributed but Major league Baseball does not insure that teams such as the Pirates use that money to improve their teams. The tax should be used towards developing and buying talent. Teams simply pocket the money while continuing to display a mediocre product on the field that has little chance of winning.

A third issue is there is no minimum cap. What this means is a team can spend $20,000,000 - $30,000,000  to field a team and lose 100 games.  In the NFL a team if forced to spend because the NFL feels it is a necessity to spend money to put a product on the field that has a chance of winning. Baseball does not have that option. A baseball team can trade away talent, cut payroll to the bare minimum, and put a triple AAA team on the field.  A classic example is the 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates who were trailing the division leaders by just 5 ½ games when they suddenly decided to trade Nate McClouth, one their biggest stars, to the Atlanta Braves. The Pirates had literally given up on winning even though they were only 5 ½ game out of the division lead. The Pirate fire-sale continued with the trade of Jack Wilson and Ian Snell.  Many MLB experts questioned the Pirates motives and called for a minimum salary cap that would forces teams to use Luxury Tax money to improve the team.

Does Major League Baseball face a problem that could destroy the future of America's Greatest Pastime? Judge for yourself. Part two will discuss how the current system is working. 

                                                    References

Associated Press. (2004).  1994 Strike was a low point for Baseball. Retrieved November 1^st,           2009, from http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1856626

Baseball Achieve. (1996). 1995 MLB Attendance Retrieved November 1^st,  2009, from            http://www.baseball1.com/bb-data/95attend.html

Baseball Almanac. (2009). Ryne Sandberg Baseball Stats Retrieved November 1^st, 2009, from            http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=sandbry01

Baseball Chronology. (2009). Major League Baseball Attendance from 1890-2005 Retrieved         November 1^st, from http://www.baseballchronology.com/Baseball/Teams/               Background/Attendance/default.asp

CBS Sports. (2008, December 5). Braves confirm offer for pitcher Burnett: free agent already has huge       offer on the table from the Yankees. Retrieved November 1^st,  2009, from            http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story/2008/12/05/atlantabraves-burnett.html 

deMause, N. (2006).  Does Baseball Need A Salary Cap? Retrieved November 1^st, 2009, fro            http://www.sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=betweenthenumbers/salarycap/      0405   

Kabak, B. (2009). Yankees Profits, World Series Taxes and Steak Retrieved November 1^st, 2009,    from http://www.riveraveblues.com/2009/10/yankee-profits-world-series-taxes-and        steak-19163/ 

USA TODAY. (2009). USA TODAY salary databases. Retrieved November 1^st, 2009,            from http://content.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/default.aspx 

Xomba.com (2009, October 15^th). Pittsburgh Pirates: Luxury Tax Lies and Broken Promises         Retrieved November 24^th, 2009, from     http://www.xomba.com/pittsburgh_pirates_luxury_tax_lies_and_broken_promises