Why I think the MLB needs a salary cap.

I think the MLB should institute a salary cap ASAP. And no, it's not because I'm a Yankee-hater; although I despise the Yankees with every fiber of my being; it's because the lack of a salary cap is straight up bad for baseball. It allows for teams like the Yankees and Red Sox to buy up the best free agents every year and for a more talented roster. It gives them the ability to compete every year for a World Series, whereas other teams like the poor Pittsburgh Pirates might get a good team once a generation if they're lucky.

To me, this is a hands down argument, but I understand what the opposing viewpoints could be, so I'll address a couple of them.


Opposing viewpoint 1: "The Yankees and Red Sox have better owners and their fan bases generate the most money, so of course they should be able to have the largest salaries."

Hm, that's a very good point Opposing viewpoint 1, except it's really not at all. For starters, many teams have fantastic owners, they just don't have the capability to bring in talent like the Yankees or Red Sox do. And secondly, of course they're going to have good fan bases, after all, they can buy up the most talent.


Opposing viewpoint 2: "There is no need for a salary cap, the Tampa Bay Rays proved it's possible to win with one of the lowest salary caps in baseball."

Wow, now that you mention it; no. Yes, the Rays proved it was possible but with that success they're going to probably have to trade away most of their talent out of necessity in the near future. Much like the Cleveland Indians had to get rid of their dynamic pitching duo of Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia over the past couple years. It isn't fair that so many teams can't afford to hold on to talent and build around it. The baseball salary issue seems to vary so much for each team and it depends so much on the ownership and management. In my eyes, every team should be able to build up and grow around talent. They should never be forced into trading big time players for prospects in the hope that they themselves will become big time players.

In summary, I think Major League Baseball needs to even the playing field once and for all. There should be a salary cap so every team can realistically compete for the World Series year in and year out. I'm no baseball economics master, but this seems like a no-hitter; er, no-brainer to me.