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.
Andrew, I couldn't agree more. It aggravates me every year to see how teams like the Yankees, Phillies, and Red Sox are able go out and sign the hottest free agent, or several of them, while our howmetown Reds are stuck hoping for the success of our rookies or maybe landing a wildcard veteran in the end of his career (Scott Rolen, Orlando Cabrera). While these players have been instrumental in the Reds' success, it doesn't really compare to the Phillies, who just added Cliff Lee to their rotation, essentially giving them 5 number one starters. This is why I continually root against the Evil Empire Yankees, and other big money teams. Go Reds!
ReplyDeleteWick, you should be proud that I read an article pertaining to baseball. In my humble opinion, Major League Baseball should be abolished based on how boring and unexciting each and every game is. Putting that aside, I think the No Salary Cap Policy should be changed immediately as it only allows the Big City Teams to prevail. I'm tired of hearing of the players the Yankees and the Red Sox acquire due the money they spend on free-agents. The real question that needs to arise is, why does it take MLB a substantial amount of time to implement changes in their system?
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