The Baseball Salary Cap: How This Decade Has Proven There is No Need

The idea of a salary cap in Major League Baseball is one that has been hotly debated for some time now. The argument in favor is that the richest owners can afford to buy a champion by outbidding for the best talent. Commissioner Bud Selig has been a strong support of a salary cap. It must never be forgotten, however, that Bud Selig came to the position of Baseball Commissioner from the sphere of ownership. Bud Selig, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, has certain biases on topics that might not necessarily be in the interests of all baseball, but rather for baseball's owners.

It has become an issue of integrity for Selig. At least, that's what he says. A salary cap would serve to create equality and fairness. He is on record as declaring that the real rivalry in baseball isn't between teams, but between rich teams and less rich teams. Naturally, the idea of baseball parity always comes back to George Steinbrenner and the Yankees. Every article on the subject of a salary cap or parity has to include a figure on the payroll of the Yankees. Well, you won't see that figure here. The figure you will see is that the Yankees are a dry run. They haven't won a World Series since the 90s and actually got knocked out by the lowly Detroit Tigers. The Tigers! One of those poster teams for parity. Their recent history of miserable failure has been blamed on their lack of resources and inability to sign the big money stars. And yet they humiliated the loaded Yankees in the playoffs. What gives?

Let's do a Disney version of the potential benefits of a salary cap. First, it would supposedly level the playing field, ensuring that more teams could afford to sign big name players. In turn, this could create more competition and fans in cities like Kansas City and Milwaukee and Arlington would have a more realistic hope of seeing their beloved team still playing in October. No longer would Major League Baseball be dominated by the New York Yankees and other super rich teams.

Now let's look at reality. During this most recent dry spell for the Yankees the World Series has been won by Arizona, Anaheim, Miami, Boston, Chicago, and St. Louis. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't parity already alive and kicking in Major League Baseball? Meanwhile, laborers have a chance to get almost as rich as the black sheep offspring of some of their bosses. Isn't Major League Baseball as it works right now a shining example of how free enterprise and capitalism is supposed to work? Am I missing something? At the same time, my beloved New York Yankees should have discovered roughly three or four years ago that buying a championship doesn't work. It didn't work in the 1980s when the Yankees last experienced a long drought and it hasn't worked this decade. Compare that with the 90s when the Yankees were virtually unstoppable. And yet that dominant Yankees team wasn't made up of high-profile free agent signings. The 1990s World Champion Yankees were a throwback to the Yankees of the 20s and 50s. A few bona fide superstars surrounded by solid players who worked together as a team. Those Yankee teams didn't resemble the All-Star team that the Yankees are now; a collection of nine separate individuals. The Yankees of the 90s were a unit. And that's why they won. Why can't George Steinbrenner get that?

There is no need for a salary cap in baseball. It is nothing more nor less than a business decision by a commissioner whose interest lies with the owners. I can guarantee you that if someone presented the idea of a salary cap for CEOs-which I have on several occasions-they'd run screaming to their bought and paid for Congressman. If a CEO can make as much money as they want, then why not a baseball player? And if competition is the real issue, then why not go to the owners and suggest that US antitrust laws be rewritten to mandate that all industries must be represented by at least ten different companies and not runaway mergers and takeovers and acquisitions are a thing of the past. Yeah, see how far you get with that one.