Does Major League Baseball Need a Salary Cap?

This has been a topic of debate for the last decade or so, and is often as talked about as the steroid policy and abuse in the game. The biggest problem that many see with this is the lack of balance between the big and small market teams. Revenue sharing in big markets such as New York and Boston have kept those cities interested in the game.

Popularity is more of a reason for the game NOT to impose a salary cap. The teams like the Yankees and Red Sox have huge payrolls, and also have a huge fanbase that is widespread throughout the country. So if a cap was put in place, those teams would likely see a decline in on-field performance which in turn would drive some fans away from ballparks. Whether you like it or not, baseball needs the high market teams to be as competitive as possible to spark fan interest. It would make no sense to put a cap that will negatively effect highly populated markets. Those teams along with markets like Chicago and Los Angeles would be able to compete year after year. As long as the big market teams can compete, fan support will not be a problem, so the purpose of a salary cap would not make alot of sense being that those clubs produce much of the game's revenue.

On the flipside, teams like Kansas City and Pittsburgh have no chance in being able to resign their top players. Those franchises would benefit from an imposed salary cap because then they will be able to compete with the larger markets to land top players. This is the biggest reason for many fans wanting the salary cap in place. There are a few star players in recent years like Roger Clemens who signed to play closer to home with Houston, so they occasionally have exceptions to that.

However, when it comes to the issue of competitive balance, many would be surprised to know that baseball has it. Since 2002, the World Series has seen nine different teams make it to the October classic. Only the St. Louis Cardinals have made it multiple times in that timeframe winning it this past season.

Major League Baseball is a business just like any other out there. Just like many of us do in the workforce, we will go where the most money is offered when the playing field is level. That is not the case in baseball, and the best players in the game are going to be playing in the bigger markets. They are going to where they can get the most out of their abilities just like most of us do with our jobs. That is just the way business works.

Larger market teams are what is driving fan interest and profit right now, and I don't see the point in jeopardizing that. Unless they can come up with a way to level the playing field while the big markets can still draw fan interest on the same level, then it is best for the sport not to have it. The small markets would be able to likely compete for top players if the cap was imposed, but they stand to lose alot of profit because of the lack of drawing power for the team. In a sense, that could cripple the small market teams because if they are not competitive, then the whole point of the salary cap is a dead issue from the start. This would be really hard on the smaller markets of a minimum cap was put in place to where they could not underspend on the payroll. There is no guarantee that this would level the playing field, and it stands to backfire in a huge way if they voted to install a salary cap.

The salary cap would be designed to help the smaller markets compete every year, but if they are already not drawing well at home games, it won't help them. As much as people want to level the playing field, it would hurt bigger markets to where they cannot acquire players to product winning results. In short, I think the salary cap issue should not be in place, and Major League Baseball needs to address other serious issues like steroid abuse amongst other things. I would vote no right now on putting in a salary cap unless they altered it to benefit both big and small markets.