With the signings of C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, The New York Yankees have signed the three biggest contracts of the off-season.That spending spree is raising concerns about competitive balance in baseball, and Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio is none too pleased. In an email to Bloomberg, he wrote that "At the rate the Yankees are going, I'm not sure anyone can compete with them. Frankly, the sport might need a salary cap."
In a phone interview with Bloomberg, he added that "I paid $220 million for my team; now they get three players for $420 million." Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash had some fighting words for the Yankees: "This is very reminiscent of what they have tried before. It didn't work then, and I'm not sure it's going to work now."
Whether baseball will ever end up with a salary cap is an open question. Under the current system, teams that spend huge sums of money on players are required to pay a "luxury tax" to the league, but that seems to do little to dissuade these signings.
For the sport as a business, a salary cap seems to be the way to go. This arms race hurts profitability for all teams, and it certainly seems to be having a negative impact on team values. According to Forbes, the average National Football League team, which operates under a salary cap with non-guaranteed contracts, is worth $1.04 billion. In baseball, only the Yankees are valued at more than $1 billion, and the league average is just $472 million.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-26-2008 @ 1:58AM
Jay said...
We speak of capitalism, yet we find it unfair when those who have money spend it. Granted, I love sports, but athletes should not be making as much money as they do, but none the less they provide us with entertainment and make money for various buisnesses, etc. so oh well it happens.
But to get back to the point, EVERYONE knows the Yankees, people who don't like baseball and people all across the world. MLB and it's teams NEED the Yankees, why? Because the Yankees give you someone to hate, someone to love, they make you talk about them, look we're discussing them in a Stock Blog. The fact of the matter is, as we all know, life isn't fair and this is a business. Look at what Tampa bay did with 1/8th the payroll of the yankees, they made it to the World series and the yanks didn't make the playoffs. Baseball is different then football, and hockey, and a cap will not come soon. The yanks are too profitable. Oh and for all those small market teams wining about the Yanks spend too much, you should be happy they do, their luxury tax pays for half of your team. The Yanks were terrible in the 70's 80's, Steinbrenner turned them around and with his farm system recreated the dynasty. Unfortunately after 2000, they tried to buy talent and look at its results. The Mets also have the 3rd Highest payrool and look where they have finished in the past 5 years. Oh and for all you Red Sox fans, as soon as you guys decided to spend money, aka 2nd highest payroll in the league, you ended your 86 year drought.
12-28-2008 @ 2:01PM
Karl said...
I would love to support the Pittsburgh Pirates as a fan and go to their games, but what would be the point? Will they ever be competitive? NO! I support and would love to see a salary cap. Instead of the small market teams being farm teams for the large market teams, all of major league baseball would be competitive with a salary cap.
Yes, the tampa bay rays made it to the world series with young talent, but will they be able to keep those young players long? Will TB be competitive in baseball every year? Unfortunately, the answer is no. As soon as the talented players for small market teams are on the open market, they're gone. A salary cap would provide the perimeters for baseball to be competitive. Just think, we would see how creative and talented baseball GMs are.