re: Major League Baseball Needs a Salary Cap.

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when was the last big name free agent to leave a "small market" team to go sign with a large market team? Lindor is the only player I can think of in recent memory. Maybe Garrit Cole as well. So there are like 2 players in recent memory this applies to

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I think those guys were both traded, but that's kind of the point. Small market teams knew they had no chance to keep them so they had no choice but to trade them.

I am a fan of enforcing a minimum, but I'm a fan of a soft cap - just make it a harder penalty to teams that go past it with loss of draft picks and more money. Want to jeopardize the future for today? Go right ahead, but it will hurt for a long time.

I also think there is a difference between teams that shed payroll in a concerted effort to rebuild via the draft and trades and rebuild in order to compete and those teams that keep payroll low simply because they are cheap and have no interest in competing.

The Cubs the last few years for that profile. Large market team that shed payroll while they were rebuilding because why waste money when you are clearly rebuilding? Difference is the Cubs were still middle of the pack spending and now have a bunch of prospects, are showing signs of the turnaround, and will spend money in the future to win as they've demonstrated. Pittsburgh has no interest in trying to compete.

That's my argument against a salary floor. Sometimes it's part of the plan but the teams really are building to compete.

I thought MLB went after teams such as the Pirates and Padres years ago because their payroll was below what they received from revenue sharing

They have a dr facto cap right now w/the luxury tax. True, that still hasn't stopped some teams, but it's there.

Also, baseball hasn't had a repeat champ since 1998-2000(Yankees).

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They have a dr facto cap right now w/the luxury tax. True, that still hasn't stopped some teams, but it's there.

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Then its NOT a cap.

Cleveland cannot even sell put their stadium when they produce a division winner

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Cleveland just doesn't have the finances to compete with organizations like the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox etc etc....

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I just don’t think that’s true.

Owners can spend the money if they want to, they choose not to

FORBES: The Business of Baseball


Follow the money...

1. New York Yankees = $482 Mill Revenue, $6b Value
2. Los Angeles Dodgers = $565 Mill, $4b
3. Boston Red Sox = $479 Mill, $3.9b
4. Chicago Cubs = $425 Mill, $3.8b
5. San Francisco Giants = $384 Mill, $3.5b
6. New York Mets = $302 Mill, $2.6b
7. St Louis Cardinals = $287 Mill, $ 2.4b
8. Philadelphia Phillies = $323 Mill, $2.3b
9. Los Angeles Angels = $331 Mill, $2.2b
10. Atlanta Braves = $443 Mill, $2.1b

Yup...Cleveland and New York are totally equal. Got it! Again, MLB desperately needs a hard salary cap. Nobody has presented anything to change my mind. Give me something to think about...ill wait.

Btw...every single one of those top 10 teams has won a World Series in the last 30 years...the Mets being the exception. No coincidence at all that major markets have an advantage without a salary cap though right?