A salary cap in pro athleticss is the sum of money every squad in a conference can pass on all of the participants on its roll in one twelvemonth. Major League Baseball does non hold a salary cap. The ground for a salary cap is to maintain squads competitory and non hold merely two or three outstanding squads that dominate everyone.
Another ground conferences like the National Football League and the National Basketball Association have a salary cap is it is just and gives squads an equal opportunity to acquire participants which can do a big impact on their squad by utilizing their accomplishment and experience. Salary caps besides keep participants from having contracts which give them an highly big undeserved wage. This is why I am for a salary cap in Major League Baseball.
A salary cap gives all the squads an equal opportunity to subscribe participants. It besides keeps squads with a batch of money non able to get every all-star they want, or any participant who is a free agent. Some Major League Baseball squads like the Anahiem Angels and the Atlanta Braves are owned by really affluent people and companies. The Anaheim Angels are owned by Disney. ( Worisnop, 128 )
So with no surprise the Angels can bring forth a squad which can be really competitory, and have several all-star participants. Merely late they exercised this advantage by subscribing Mo Vaughn for 90 million dollars over seven old ages. ( Antonen, 2 ) There were at least four other squads that wanted to subscribe this all-star, but the Angels easy had the money, and outbid everyone who wanted to subscribe him.
If there was a salary cap in Major League Baseball so the Angels would hold thought twice about giving that much money to one participant. With the its roll for one twelvemonth. So giving one participant 12.8 million dollars for one twelvemonth does non truly do sense if the salary cap is 50 million dollars a twelvemonth. That would go forth merely 37.2 million dollars for the 24 other participants, which equals each participant acquiring on norm a small less than one and a half million dollars a twelvemonth.
Another good illustration of the richest squad winning did non happen to long ago. Just back in 1997 the Florida Marlins spent over 60 million dollars for their roll. ( Weiner, 1 ) They had all-stars like Kevin Brown, Gary Shefeild, and Bobby Bonnila on their squad. The Marlins proprietor really lost money that twelvemonth, but his squad still won the World Series. This merely proves that without a salary cap any squad can win the World Series every bit long as the proprietor is willing to set up money to acquire participants and even hazard losing money.
The salary cap besides keeps squads more competitory and closer to be endowment than without a salary cap. If each squad can pass the same sum of money for all the participants on their roll, so there is a opportunity for all the squads to hold an equal sum of endowment. Since all the Major League squads will hold the same buying power it does non intend that every squad is traveling to pass the maximal sum of money, because they might non hold that much money to pass. There is ever traveling to be squads that are non every bit good as other squads it is all about doing good determinations by general directors, non over paying mean participants, and acquiring good participants for good monetary values.
An illustration of the salary cap non maintaining squads competitory is the New York Yankees of 1998. The Yankees fundamentally bought their World Series Championship like the Marlins of 1997, but they proved what large difference it makes when you have the money to hold five all-stars on your squad. The New York Yank
EEs won over 70 per centum of their games which is one 100 and 14 games and lost merely 48 games. ( Weiner, 1 ) That is the best record of all time in modern baseball. Just to give you an illustration of how much better the Northerners did than every squad in the American League, the Boston Red Sox finished 22 games behind the Northerners when the season was over. The ground this is such a large trade is because the Red Sox had the 2nd best record in the American League with 92 wins and 70 losingss. ( Antonen, 2 )
This merely goes to turn out how unjust it is to all the other squads. The most unjust thing about this is now the Northerners are doing even more money by winning the World Series ( when they swept the Padres in four games ) off of indorsements and World Series money. The Northerners can keep the squad they have and possibly even make it better since every participant wants to play for the them. Everyone wants to play for them because they are large rivals and favourites to win the World Series once more following twelvemonth.
One illustration of how a all-star participant is willing to give money to play for the Yankees is halfway fielder Bernie Williams. Williams was offered 90 million dollars over seven old ages by the Boston Red Sox, but he rejected this offer. ( Weiner, 1 ) Alternatively he resigned with the Northerners for two and a half million dollars less of what the Red Sox offered him.
The salary cap would besides be good for Major League Baseball because it would maintain the wages of the baseball participants down. ( Fiszel, 104 ) The participants would work harder to seek and acquire more money, and in return the fans would see more competitory baseball games. Baseball participants wages are astronomical, and if there is a salary cap in baseball it would maintain participants wages down. There would non be as many participants doing eight figures yearly. If baseball participants made less money ticket monetary values to games would be less, since proprietors do non hold to increase ticket monetary values to bring forth money to acquire those high priced participants.
An illustration of a Major League Baseball squad raising ticket monetary values to acquire a certain participant is the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox are traveling to increase their ticket monetary values this twelvemonth by 15 per centum. ( Antonen, 2 ) That is a dollar 50 addition on the cheapest seats at Fenway Park. The ground the Boston Red Sox are raising ticket monetary values is because they are seeking to acquire a power batter to replace Mo Vaughn who non surprisingly left for more money.
In decision a salary cap for Major League Baseball is the right pick. It benefits everyone. The fans get more fight between participants and squads, cheaper ticket monetary values, and the satisfaction of cognizing the participants are playing for the love of the athletics and non merely for money.
The proprietors benefit by doing more money, being able to maintain ticket and grant monetary values down, and holding the ability to better their bowls. The participants besides benefit from the salary cap by playing more for merriment and non merely for money, being more competitory, and by cognizing they earned their money. In all everyone would be more happier and who knows possibly all that excess money the proprietors will be doing will travel to charity.
Plants Cited
- Antonen, Mel. Red Sox Lose Mo, What Now? USA Today 27 November 1998, natl. Erectile dysfunction: C2
- Fizel, John. Baseball Economics. Connecticut: Praeger, 1996.
- Weiner, Richard. Williams Resigns with the Northerners for Less. USA Today 25 November 1998, natl. Erectile dysfunction: C1
- Worisnop, Richard L. The Business of Sports. CQ Researcher Vol. 5, No. 6 ( 1995 ) : 123-130.