The Fall Of The Yankee Fan

The Seeds Have Been Planted, But Grass Has Yet To Grow On The Grave That Is The Yankees Dynasty.

Friday, November 26, 2004

The Idea Of A Salary Cap

A salary cap in baseball?

The idea of a salary cap in baseball is one that has always been floated around in the months following the world series. As Red Sox fans we usually look at the Yankees and say, "of course they win - they buy all their players" well now that the Red Sox have won the World Series, the teams around the league are starting to say the same about the Sox.

Well if Scott Boras' belief that baseball teams have more money than they want to lead on is in fact true than a salary cap would be a plausible way to detect it. There are many teams across the league that fail to lang big money players because they don't have the money to compete with the southern california teams, Red Sox, or Yankees. A salary cap would hurt the teams who currently have big money players signed to long term deals but help the teams who are each year trying to land the one or two pieces they need.

With a now larger market for the Montreal Expos in Washington, one of the leagues smallest payroll may now see a sizeable increase, and as for the rest of the straglers, it will soon become convert or be crushed. If not for salary cap, gone are the days of the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates. Players salaries are constantly increasing and because the only teams with the money to cover the rising costs are the larger market teams, it is becoming ever unlikely that players are going to take any cut to play anywhere near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Now a salary cap could help drive down the every rising cost of big name players. This because they would have to accept less money in order for their team to compete. If Alex Rodriguez were thinking about his team he would have never accepted a deal to a team which devoted half of its payroll to himself.

I as a Red Sox fan am glad to see the Red Sox actively seeking players each offseason but this is because they have the money to do so. They are currently hovering around the luxury tax line and would most likely be able to field a very good baseball team if they were restricted to it -- as opposed to the Yankees who may not even be able to cover the costs of their 2005 bench & bullpen. I am sad each year to see Lou Merloni, to see Shea Hillenbrand, as now as well as Gabe Kapler leave Boston, because they are not suitable starters on a team that has to compete with the Yankees growing payroll year in and year out. The Red Sox must counteract on every Yankees acquisistion which has grown very tiredsome to me but that is just the way it has become since George Steinbrenner re-entered the game.

What I'm about to say is a slight theory and I'll admit it's a bit flawed but here we go. Many Yankees fans say the Red Sox are just as guilty offenders when it comes to payroll size as the Yankees but when checking ring-to-money ratio based on competition, the Yankees have only ONE team within $82 Million, and that being the team that beat them, the Boston Red Sox, at a $61 Million defficit.

Meanwhile, within $82 Million of the Boston Red Sox Are All But 6 Teams Listed Here In A Descending 2004 Payroll Order:

1) Cincinnati - who is currently building a team around several young under-payed studs.

2) Florida - who is once again rebuilding and saving up for their next world series.

3) Pittsburgh - oh boy, nobody wants to play in Pittsburgh -- Hey Jason Kendall don't forget the sunscreen.

4) Cleveland - who is also rebuilding around many young stars.

5) Tampa Bay - who has the cash to spend but just doesn't do it well.

and finally...

6) Milwaukee - who I don't know what exactly they're trying to prove, but they do well with what they have... good for them.


Now that I've finished that rant, that leaves 23 teams in competition with the Red Sox as closely as the Yankees are with their ONE competition. It's funny though because I don't seem to see the Detroit Tigers or Colorado Rockies coming back against the Red Sox down 3-0 in a best of seven series.

Money well spent New York.

Money spent all for the assurity of arriving in the world series each season. If only they could do so without the $80 million advantage... maybe a salary cap is the answer. You won't find any Red Sox fans against the cap because they know that eventhough it will hurt the team it would also help the team in ways, as well as help the rest of the league. Even if this means the Red Sox don't win it every year.




Paolo DeVito
Philly's Own Fenway Faithful

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