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Yankees win their 27th World Series: Is it time for MLB to talk salary cap? (part 1)
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Yankees high-priced pitching duo Sabathia and Burnett celebrate. Their combined 2009 salary was $31 million, only $5 million less than the entire Florida Marlins roster. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
So the Yankees are world champions again after a nine-year drought. For Yankee fans who feel they are entitled to a championship every season, nine years must have felt like 40.
And why shouldn’t they feel entitled? Their team’s ownership and management have a strong desire to win and have done everything by the rules to do so. Yes the Yankees outspend everyone. But there’s no rule in place from Major League Baseball that says they can’t. Inevitably, any time free-spending teams like the Yankees or Red Sox win a World Series, the “salary cap question” is going to be posed by all the have-nots.
The Cleveland Indians are one of the “have-nots”. Watching the playoffs this year was a sad walk down memory lane for Tribe fans. Every team except the Angels fielded former Indians in key roles. Imagine the squad the Indians could have fielded this season had money been no object:
1B/C: Victor Martinez - traded to Boston.
2B: Mark DeRosa - traded to St. Louis.
SS: Asdrubal Cabrera – still an Indian, at least for now.
3B: Casey Blake - traded to LA.
LF: Manny Ramirez - lost through free-agency, now with LA.
CF: Grady Sizemore - a survivor, but 2012 is coming fast.
RF: Shin-Soo Choo – another survivor, for now.
DH: Jim Thome - lost through free-agency, now with LA.
Bench: Ben Francisco - traded to Philly.
Starting Pitchers:
CC Sabathia – traded to Milwaukee before leaving via free-agency. Signed by NY.
Cliff Lee – traded to Philly.
Carl Pavano – traded to Minnesota.
Relief Pitcher: Rafael Betancourt – traded to Colorado.
I may be going out on a limb here, but that looks like a playoff team to me.
Does Major League Baseball need a salary cap? I would argue that in order to keep fans in smaller markets interested in the sport as a whole, yes MLB needs to level the playing field. Franchises like the Cleveland Indians are becoming no more than glorified Triple-A teams for the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. How is it fun for an average fan to know that his or her team has ZERO chance at the playoffs on Opening Day? Why bother going to the games when your team’s premier players will be gone just as they are reaching their peak?
There's much more to say on this topic. You can read the arguments for maintaining the current system and my reasons against them in part 2 of this article.
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