In many of the professional sports leagues around the world, there is a yearly salary cap implemented to make sure that no team has an unfair monetary advantage. However, in Major League Baseball, the agreement between the owners and Players' Union does not have a salary cap. Although the absence of a salary cap greatly helps teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cubs, it makes the league extremely uneven. Take, for example, the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays' scouting department has done an excellent job in recent years, and they have an excellent farm system. (Minor League) They even went to the World Series in 2008. Because there is no salary cap, the Rays have to give away many of their best players every single year due to a lack of sufficient funds. Tampa Bay had the best record in the American League this past season, but they were forced to let Carl Crawford, a perennial all-star, go because they didn't have enough money to pay him.
This feature is definitely one of the worst in sports. In baseball, there are several other teams in similar situations with the Rays. The Padres, Twins, and Pirates also have to continually drop their best players if they succeed. Just a few days ago, the Padres had to say goodbye to much of their starting lineup a month removed from their World Series appearance. Although the Yankees are salivating at the new talent available, it proves that money, not talent, really does run sports. When the Yankees have a payroll well over $200 million per year and the Rays and other teams have payrolls in the $30 million range, it makes it almost impossible to compete. Until Major League Baseball finally decides to implement a salary cap, the MLB will not be a fully competitive league.
