Does Baseball Need a Salary Cap?

The Pirates have drifted aimlessly ever since Barry Bonds marooned them in the early 90s.

The NFL famously boasted a salary cap for years until this season, when it was removed entirely and may or may not return under a future collective bargaining agreement. Regardless, it seems like the same teams find themselves in the Super Bowl every year – Colts, Patriots, Steelers, repeat. This winter’s spending spree has once again sparked the salary cap debate. Supporters of a league-wide spending limit claim that the league is rigged in favor of the big market clubs, while opponents say that teams are already separated into the deep and shallow ends of the economic pool, yet small and mid-market teams like San Francisco, St. Louis and Florida have managed to win the World Series in recent years. The second argument has always seemed more viable to me because there’s simply too much evidence that says baseball’s postseason is unpredictable, and the salary of say, the eighth man in the lineup, has no effect on the outcome of a series. If you were thinking of Alex Rodriguez’ infamous appearance at the bottom of the Yankee order in the 2006 ALDS, give yourself a pat on the back.

For all the spending the New York clubs have endorsed – and the Boston franchise, and the LA clubs, and the Chicago teams, for that matter – they have but 5 titles amongst all of them over the last decade. Five. The 2002 Angels, 2004 Red Sox, 2005 White Sox, 2007 Red Sox and 2009 Yankees are the lone victors. Take Boston out of the equation and you have just three World Series from six of the deepest pockets in the league. The Yankees, after all, hadn’t won since 2000, and they only increased payroll from that point on, failing to get back to the World Series, which they managed to do only one time (in 2003) since the end of the 2001 series against Arizona. The Mets, who now look like they’re destined for years of obscurity in the NL East, have routinely been close to the top of the payroll leaderboard, yet haven’t made the postseason since 2006. October baseball hasn’t been common for the Dodgers either. The Angels routinely won the AL West until last year, and are primed for a recovery, but the Cubs have little excuse for their consistent mediocrity. The White Sox look like a fringe team every year even though they play in the worst division in the American League.

If you ignore the AL for a moment, and examine the National League, it becomes obvious how little payroll matters. The Phillies had the 4th highest payroll and performed admirably, but the next highest payroll for a playoff team was the Giants, who came in 10th at just under $100 million. Atlanta was 15th at about $84 million, and the Reds, who hadn’t played a meaningful game this late in the year since 1999, were 19th. San Diego won 90 games with the second cheapest sum of salaries (only the Pirates spent less). The Cubs and Mets, 3rd and 5th respectively, were both well under the .500 mark. Even in the rough-and-tumble American League, the Rangers, 27th in payroll, made it to Game 6 of the World Series. So much for parity.

Of course, it’s tough to argue these points to someone who roots for a small market team like Tampa Bay, who lost Carl Crawford and its entire bullpen, mostly to a division rival, no less. They most know, though, that there are often factors not related to winning baseball games that determine the financial prowess of a franchise. Stadium-based revenue is a big one – Oakland is always competitive but never gets anyone to show up to the park. The Rays have a similar problem. Stingy owners, like Jeffrey Loria of the Marlins, can stagnate a team incessantly. Mid-market teams like Milwaukee manage to survive, though (10th in home park attendance last year), so geographic factors and fan demographics probably act as a big piece of the puzzle too. It doesn’t make sense to lump all the poor teams together when some of them are finishing ahead of Boston and New York and others are struggling to win 60 games in a season. Contrary to the popular beliefs professed by media giants like ESPN, not all teams are created equal. Some are born with more toys than others, but that doesn’t mean the other kids can’t play. Sometimes it takes a few years. Just ask the ’01 D’Backs and ’97 Marlins.

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