Salary Cap in MLB

[Degenerate39]

I for one support the idea of having a salary cap in Major League Baseball. Look at the Yankees lineup they have an All-Star team basically. They have 80 million more dollars than the Sox do. You can add up the three bottom team's payrolls and the Yankees would have equal or more money I can't remember. Think of how much better off the teams like Cincinnati would be with a salary cap. Maybe we could get a good player that doesn't either strike out 200 times a season (Dunn) or spend 62 games of the year on the DL (Griffey). Don't get me wrong I love Griff and Dunn but we need more than just a broken down old man and a country boy that either hits a homer or doesn't hit at all. The Yankees have Johhny Damon (All-star), Derek Jeter (All-star), Bobby Abreu (All-star), A.Rod (Possible Hall of Famer), Giambi (All-star). And the list keeps going on and on. We have Griffey (Hall of Famer), Dunn (Don't know what to classify him), Arroyo (All-star), and Harang (All-star).

How is it far that the Yankees have a whole line up of All-stars and possible Hall of Famers and a team like the Marlins have... well D-Train? And if there was a salary cap then we could get another All-star possibly and then it could boost attedence and the team record. Hell if we had another All-star caliber player we would have made the playoffs. Maybe my opinion is biased because I hate the big salary teams but that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

[dougflynn23]

I'm all for a salary cap so long as it is accompanied by a salary floor; a minimum amount of money that every team is required to spend each year on their opening day 25 man roster or forfeit a draft pick

[George Anderson]

There is one huge problem in implementing a salary cap.....the PLAYERS UNION!!!!

[HumnHilghtFreel]

I'm probably one of the people in the minority who don't think you need a cap. There are several small market teams that thrive. I don't think you should make it a money issue, just hold GMs accountable, don't let them use their resources as a crutch for putting together bad teams. Better drafting and scouting, putting more money into your farm system instead of overpriced free agents.

That's just my take on it though.

[puca]

I hate salary caps and salary floors but any game where one player has 2+ times the resources as another is a sham. Would you play in a scrabble game where your opponent was allowed to draw twice the number of tiles as you? Would you play poker in a game where one player was dealt twice the number of cards? Not me. It may be possible to win but it is a fools proposition. If I was a mid-market team I would be very leary spending beyond my means because there is relatively little chance of ending the year with the best team.

My solution. Meaningful revenue sharing and ensurance that the shared money is spent on baseball operations.

[Unassisted]

The MLBPA would never let a salary cap see the light of day. It would seem at first glance like a cap would help the Reds. But where the current lack of a cap leads to situations where players get too expensive for small-market teams like the Reds, a cap like the NFL's would lead to situations where middling players don't get re-signed because they take up too much room under the cap.

That might have kept the Reds from re-signing Jason LaRue: a move which looks good in retrospect, but which would have been unpopular at the time. It might have also forced them to deal Sean Casey before he signed, rather than after.

I'll leave it to someone else to come up with examples where not re-signing a middle-of-the-road player would have really hurt.

[Blimpie]

Originally Posted by Unassisted

The MLBPA would never let a salary cap see the light of day.

People used to say the same thing about steroid testing. Climates change--I am not so sure anymore.

[GridironGrace]

Yea players union wont let it happen too much money is lost by players and agents then.. and the union for that matter.

Although I wish they would get a Cap . Im more intrested in seeing more Telivised games for local teams.. i live in So. Kentucky and the only time i can watch the Reds is when thier playing a Chicago team(WGN) or the Braves(TBS).

Id rather see some Weekly games elsewhere besides ESPN cause they always show the yanks or redsox games.. never see the reds on ESPN

[KronoRed]

Forget a cap, full revenue sharing would help more

[Col_ IN Reds fan]

The reason the cap works in the NFL is that most of the revenue is shared.
IMO a salary cap will not work without full revenue sharing, and I just don't see that happening in the near future.

[fearofpopvol1]

All for it.

I think it should be $100 million.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Originally Posted by fearofpopvol1

All for it. I think it should be $100 million.

Where it s/b set is a good question if it where to happen. Based on the salaries at the start of this season:

* Avg. team salary (all 30 teams) = $77.557 million
* Avg. team salary (w/out Yanks) = $73.519 million
* Avg. team salary (no NYY or FLA) = $75.609 million
>> Teams above $75 million payroll = 14

$75 million almost seems like the magic number to me as of today.

[Blimpie]

Originally Posted by RedFanAlways1966

Where it s/b set is a good question if it where to happen. Based on the salaries at the start of this season:

* Avg. team salary (all 30 teams) = $77.557 million
* Avg. team salary (w/out Yanks) = $73.519 million
* Avg. team salary (no NYY or FLA) = $75.609 million
>> Teams above $75 million payroll = 14

$75 million almost seems like the magic number to me as of today.

I am not so sure that $ 75 million would even take care of the Yankees pitching staff...

Edited: Upon further review, get this:

Yankees 2006 Payroll number for their twelve active pitchers = $ 75,151,611

New York Yankees 2006 Salaries
PLAYER SALARY (US$) 
Mike Mussina 19,000,000 
Randy Johnson 15,661,427 
Mariano Rivera 10,500,000 
Carl Pavano 8,000,000 
Jaret Wright 7,666,667 
Kyle Farnsworth 5,416,667 
Cory Lidle 3,300,000 
Ron Villone 2,250,000 
Tanyon Sturtze 1,500,000 
Mike Myers 1,150,000 
Scott Proctor 353,675 
Chien-Ming Wang 353,175 

Total Team Salary:  198,662,180

The amazing thing is that only $ 706,850 of that figure is allotted to Wang and Proctor--two pitchers that have come up HUGE for the Yanks this year.

[goreds2]

Marty Brennaman was right on the money saying to get a salary cap, a one year strike would have to occur. Then, you would have a problem with the fans coming back to the games.

[vaticanplum]

Originally Posted by Blimpie

Carl Pavano 8,000,000

Every time I see this it's like a knife in my soul.