Is The MLB Fair?
The MLB is the only 1 out of the 4 major American sport leagues that has no sort of salary cap. The NFL enforces a hard one, the NBA has a soft one, but both have systems in place so big markets teams, don’t bully the small ones. For the MLB that isn’t the case. Teams that are in LA and in New York have a much bigger payroll meaning they can sign, better players and trade for more players than teams in say Millwaukee or Oakland. For a long time I thought that this was a problem in the MLB and that there was an unfair advantage for teams and the fact there was no cap was to allow big markets to bully small markets, but I have changed my mind on that stance. The two teams that went to world series this year were ranked 21st and 16th in team payroll. The year before that the two teams were ranked 7th and 19th. That is proof that there really is no unfair advantage in baseball, so that really isn’t an argument people could use when it comes to a salary put in place. The reason that the NFL has a hard salary cap is actually so the owners can make a bigger profit. Labor costs go down in the NFL with a hard cap so that is the main reason why it is in place. It does even out the competition to a point, but the MLB competition level seems to be pretty even.
So why isn’t there a salary cap? That is thanks to the MLBPA. If the owners had the opportunity there would be a salary cap in a minute, but that will never happen. They players do not want money from their pockets put in the owner’s pockets instead. Some economists say if you want less of something tax it and if the salary cap is put in place then the salaries of the players will fall. Maybe the demand would increase for small market teams tickets because people will think their team has a chance to win, but based on the last 2 world series teams won’t succeed based on their salaries. Now looking at the facts, it does not seem like the MLB really needs a salary cap. The profits of the MLB have only increases over the last few years which shows that the MLB can compete with NBA, NFL and NHL in their area and I don’t see that changing any time soon. The only things that adding a salary cap would do is give more money to the owners and less to the players which would most likely cause a MLB lockdown as the MLBPA and the owners try to work out a new deal. Things could change in the future if the demand for games goes down because of a slight edge to teams, but the trend for MLB attendance is up, not down and I see that continuing. 
"ESPN.com: Page 2 : Does Baseball Need a Salary Cap?" ESPN.com: Page 2 : Does Baseball Need a Salary Cap? N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.
"No, Baseball (still) Doesn't Need a Salary Cap." CBSSports.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.
"Why Doesn't the MLB Implement a Salary Cap?" Finances. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.
I do not support a salary cap. Teams should be able to pay players whatever they feel they are worth. I also feel unlimited salaries are not as limiting to small market teams as some would think. Kansas City is a fairly small market team. Salary caps in other professional sports are set so high that they are ineffective too.
ReplyDeleteI think while a salary cap may sound like it would be an effective idea to the salaries of MLB players, I would not support it because it clearly would not impact which teams do well throughout the season (as you outlined with who was going to the World Series) and most likely would take many years to sort out the logistics of it.
ReplyDeleteIt must be somewhat fair if you think about it. The Kansas City Royals have been in the world series for that past two years and still have less salary room than the brewers who were near last place this year and completely tanked after the all-star break last year. And look at the Houston they have the smallest payroll and were in the playoffs along with Pittsburgh the fourth smallest payroll. There must be a lot more than money which drives the team so having no salary cap doesn't really seem to have many trade offs except for upset fans of bad teams blaming it on money when they have more to pay players than teams like Houston and Pittsburgh that both made the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteIf a team has money to pay a player as much as they want, let them do it. Let the team and the player figure out what the player is going to get paid on their own. If you have a larger market team buying players for more than smaller market team then the larger market team is going something right to be able to afford more for players they want.
ReplyDeleteA salary cap for certain sports is a great idea but while this would be a great thing for teams and companies the players would not be pleased if the salary cap is going to be less than they are already making. This could also cause more problems than it is going to solve. Also it would be to time consuming to create this salary cap and be able to cover this will all of the teams and their players.
ReplyDeleteI think that your point is great when saying that a salary cap may not necessarily be effective speaking that the teams with the highest payroll are not necessarily the best teams, but I have to disagree still even after reading this article. I think that regardless of the players feelings towards this, they need to enforce it to be fair to all of the other professional sports organizations who do abide by the rules. These athletes will still be extremely well paid and it will not have that great of an effect on the biggest players because the teams will pay what they need to to keep them. While it is not easy to be an MLB player, there are plenty of talented athletes that are close behind the ones currently playing, and they would be willing to do it for much less. I think that the players need to realize that their sport is not more special than the rest and abide by the salary cap.
ReplyDeleteI believe that a lack of a salary cap does in fact affect the MLB. Although the statistics posted in this article support your argument well, not all of the facts are prevalent. Big teams are able to bully little teams very easily. It makes the bigger, richer teams more desirable to players due to the chances of a bigger salary. Because of the desirability, players with the ability to choose where and who they want to play for will automatically go straight to the rich teams, causing the smaller teams to lose any chance at having those star players come to their team.
ReplyDeleteI like that the MLB is different in this aspect. Salary caps I find can be very annoying and restricting. The NFL, in my perspective, is the greatest professional sports league in the US and it is being brought down. Players would be in different cities a good amount and some teams would not be stuck over time. If you look at the Houston Texans they pay JJ Watt a ton of money and because of that they cannot bring in other good players. They have the money to do so but they are not allowed to utilize it. What the MLB does should be adapted into other leagues.
ReplyDeleteI do not support a salary cap in the MLB because according to stats the system isn't broken, so why try and fix it? If the MLB isn't having trouble with the big market teams winning every year, then the league is fine. Plus, baseball is so different than other sports because at any given day, any team can win. Even the best records in the MLB are just barely ten games over five hundred percent in the win column. Therefore it should stay the same!
ReplyDeleteSalary caps aren't truly effective. Every player is different, so why limit their salary? Yes, there should be a limit but that is discussed with the player and team. Also, some teams are able to financially support higher salaries for certain players, so why have a cutoff? Also, it would most likely have its conflicts.
ReplyDeleteI think that the MLB works without a salary cap, but I also think it would bring benefits if they did impose one. There isn't a chance though that there will be a salary cap because you're right about the MLBPA, the players would just go on strike if they tried to do it. But I think that even though small market teams make it to the world series occasionally, if you look at it the big market teams are the ones who are consistently in the playoffs and finishing in the top of their divisions. I think a salary cap would be beneficial but isn't possible because of the MLBPA.
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ReplyDeleteI believe the salary cap is a good idea due to some teams obviously having a larger amount of money than other teams, which would give them an unfair advantage into dominating their leagues. By having a salary cap, even though it seems unfair to some teams, does end up making a more fair and entertaining sport to watch as it levels out the playing field more than if it did not exist. This way more teams have a chance of having a good season and having different teams entering that specific sports playoffs or tournaments. Without it, odds are the more rich cities would continuously be powerhouses and dominate their leagues by being able to hire as many amazing athletes as they could possibly afford. In the end, the ends of this salary cap justify the means.
ReplyDeleteI find it a good aspect that the MLB isn't restricting teams or players with salary caps. I feel like salary caps aren't nessecary and players should be paid for what their worth and teams should be able to pay the players what they feel they are worth. On the other side I believe if the MLB would to enforce salary caps it would eliminate bigger teams pushing around or bulling the smaller ones. If you would enforce a salary cap on the MLB I believe it would eventually lead to an equalization between teams, with allowing the bigger teams not to spend as much, allowing the smaller teams to remain in the competition for good players in the league.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is good that they have caps on how much people can be paid in the MLB. I think that it can be ridiculous how much these people get paid for playing baseball. I know it is really important to some people but I don't think it is right that someone who pitches a ball for a living makes more money that the president or people fighting for our freedom.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I thought that your blog post was interesting and insightful. I support the implementation of a salary cap in Major League Baseball, because although teams such as the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals made it to the World Series on much lower salaries, it simply isn't fair. Despite some small grammatical mistakes, I thought that your post is very interesting and insightful. It is interesting to point out the dramatic economic difference between the MLB and the other big four sports, and the effects of that difference. If the MLB were to implement a cap, I believe that it would contribute to giving every team a chance to win a pennant, and that it would overall be beneficial to the teams who do not get as much publicity and money in general.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely an arguable topic. Adding salary caps would limit the power of larger teams, but at the same time allow them to bring in better players with the money they saved. The same goes for smaller teams. But if caps were added, there would be benefits for other people like the fans. Ticket prices would be a little cheaper, the team would make more money, and the fan base would grow. However, MLB players are paid a lot of money in the first place which is somewhat unnecessary i think.
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