The current situation is out of control. Players and owners get super wealthy and make broadcast deals that ultimately land on the fans. They pay lip service to how much they appreciate the fans, but we're stuck with the bill. I refuse to pay the premium fee to watch my local team on cable, and I don't think I'm alone, so MLB loses its connection with fans in blind pursuit of the almighty dollar.
John H - 1 month ago
There is nothing worse for the fan experience to see a beloved star player that you live and die with
go to a rival team like the Yankees simply because they have a deeper pocket. For Long suffering Orioles fan , this started with Reggie Jackson in 1978 and continued with such players as Mike Mussina and Zach Britton.
I have a lot of empathy for fans of teams like the Florida Marlins and Oakland A's who are always shedding payroll. How do you stay a fan. I think David Rubenstein gets it.
Amy S, - 1 month ago
For years, smaller market clubs have been at a disadvantage to clubs like the Yankees and the Dodgers. In the case of the Orioles, it has been hard to compete in a division where the Yankees have always gone over and beyond the soft cap. You can see that the clubs who spend more to "buy" championships have more titles. If there was a salary cap, it would even out the talent by team and give more teams a real shot at the title.
Laurence Berbert - 1 month ago
If the goal is parity/competitive balance, then the answer is obvious: Utilize a hard cap as all of the other major sports have done.
However, it may be that some MLB teams (Tampa comes to mind, and the Orioles would have been included in this group as well until the change in ownership) are content to be marginal contenders, fielding rosters of young club-controlled players, while also posting a healthy profit (due in part to their receipt of luxury tax revenues from the Dodgers, Yankees and other teams with seemingly unlimited funds).
Of course, in order to institute a hard cap, the owners will have to somehow get the Players Union on board (no small task).
The current situation is out of control. Players and owners get super wealthy and make broadcast deals that ultimately land on the fans. They pay lip service to how much they appreciate the fans, but we're stuck with the bill. I refuse to pay the premium fee to watch my local team on cable, and I don't think I'm alone, so MLB loses its connection with fans in blind pursuit of the almighty dollar.
There is nothing worse for the fan experience to see a beloved star player that you live and die with
go to a rival team like the Yankees simply because they have a deeper pocket. For Long suffering Orioles fan , this started with Reggie Jackson in 1978 and continued with such players as Mike Mussina and Zach Britton.
I have a lot of empathy for fans of teams like the Florida Marlins and Oakland A's who are always shedding payroll. How do you stay a fan. I think David Rubenstein gets it.
For years, smaller market clubs have been at a disadvantage to clubs like the Yankees and the Dodgers. In the case of the Orioles, it has been hard to compete in a division where the Yankees have always gone over and beyond the soft cap. You can see that the clubs who spend more to "buy" championships have more titles. If there was a salary cap, it would even out the talent by team and give more teams a real shot at the title.
If the goal is parity/competitive balance, then the answer is obvious: Utilize a hard cap as all of the other major sports have done.
However, it may be that some MLB teams (Tampa comes to mind, and the Orioles would have been included in this group as well until the change in ownership) are content to be marginal contenders, fielding rosters of young club-controlled players, while also posting a healthy profit (due in part to their receipt of luxury tax revenues from the Dodgers, Yankees and other teams with seemingly unlimited funds).
Of course, in order to institute a hard cap, the owners will have to somehow get the Players Union on board (no small task).