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San francisco , CA

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November 6, 2009, 05:05 PM

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The Yanks are clearly the best team in baseball and the players deserve credit for winning it all. However, major league baseball has a glaring problem. The playing field is not level when you have no limit on a team's player payroll and you have one team, the Yankees, that is willing and able to excessively out-spend everyone else, buying up top players to ensure victory. The Yankees-Phillies payroll match-up was two to one: $208 million (before adding in a league-imposed "penalty" for overspending of $27 million--and that's before adding in huge signing bonuses) versus $111 million.

Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, who were key to the Yankee success, were obtained this season in long-term contracts that commit over $400 million. No competition can justify this level of inequity. In poker, each player starts with the same amount of chips. In baseball today, with no true limit or cap, there is one team that starts with 50-100% more chips than the other teams. The spendthrift Yankees are winners, but they are making MLB look ridiculous while also detracting from their victory.

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November 7, 2009 03:31 PM ET

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Unfortunately salary caps and parity will hurt Baseball in large markets... and if large markets fail so does all of baseball.
In '96 the Yankees attendance was 2,250,000... from there it grew to 3,228,000 in 2000 and then they averaged 4,200,000 between 2005 and 2009. Why? They put a great product on the field, built a winning brand, marketed a great product in a town with another team... the Mets, and built a great network for their fan base... the YES network. This model also translated well to Boston.... which, buy the way, is ranked 22nd in population when compared to all US cities... but decided a few years ago that in order to compete with the NYY they would have to adopt a business model patterned after the Yanks....
Baseball is, and always will be, a regional game with economic challenges that are not common to Football or Basketball.
More MLB franchises should begin to model their approach after the Yank's.
PS ... what team ranks # 1 in driving up attendance when on the road? That's right... the NY Yankees

RI Bomber

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November 8, 2009 04:14 AM ET

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Yankees fans don't want the salary cap to happen because it hurts their chances to control the game. MLB should eliminate 2-4 teams and institute a salary cap before the damage is done permanently and no one wants to watch.

jwindle1975

Fort Worth, TX

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November 8, 2009 11:35 AM ET

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QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 04:14 AM ET 11.08 by jwindle1975

Yankees fans don't want the salary cap to happen because it hurts their chances to control the game. MLB should eliminate 2-4 teams and institute a salary cap before the damage is done permanently and no one wants to watch.

There should be a minimum and maximum cap...say 60-140 million...then raised incrementally every couple years...

Jimmer69

Black Hawk , SD

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November 8, 2009 01:01 PM ET

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QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 03:31 PM ET 11.07 by RI Bomber

Unfortunately salary caps and parity will hurt Baseball in large markets... and if large markets fail so does all of baseball.In '96 the Yankees attendance was 2,250,000... from there it grew to 3,228,000 in 2000 and then they averaged 4,200,000 between 2005 and 2009. Why? They put a great product on the field, built a winning brand, marketed a great product in a town with another team... the Mets, and built a great network for their fan base... the YES network. This model also translated well to Boston.... which, buy the way, is ranked 22nd in population when compared to all US cities... but decided a few years ago that in order to compete with the NYY they would have to adopt a business model patterned after the Yanks....Baseball is, and always will be, a regional game with economic challenges that are not common to Football or Basketball.More MLB franchises should begin to model their approach after the Yank's.PS ... what team ranks # 1 in driving up attendance when on the road? That's right... the NY Yankees

Couldn't agree more, well said.

rollinstoned

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November 8, 2009 05:12 PM ET

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Cap seemed to work for football. The focus swung from spend, spend, spend to putting together a well managed and efficent organizaiton. The Patriots succeeded to be a dynasty in the cap era...as did the Colts...whereas (my team) teams like the 49ers collapsed because they could no longer solve their problems by throwing money at it.

A cap, if implemented properly, would make baseball much more fun to watch. And teams like the yankees would have to rely on scouting, management, trades, etc. to build the line up they have instead of just pouring money all over it. The one thing the Yankees do have tho is a rich tradition that will keep the fan base loyal - no amount of money in the world could buy that.

CJ Topspin

San Jose , CA

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November 8, 2009 05:41 PM ET

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The whole luxury tax process has no impact on certain teams, if they don't "cap" then this revenue sharing needs serious revisions.

RuffEndOfPineapple

Hightstown , NJ

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November 9, 2009 12:29 PM ET

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RI Bomber is correct. A salary cap would ruin baseball and when an average Yankee Team came into town the stands would no longer be filled as they are now. Fans want to see the Yankees and want to see their home teams beat them as they will in 4 out of 10 games on the average now. The Yankee owners do not put their money in the bank, they put their money back into the team which other owners who do not care as much do not.

Andy