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The Nate McLouth trade by the Pirates for 3 minor leaguers got my wheels spinning. How would I feel about that trade if I were a Pirates fan? Pretty pissed off I guess. Like my time, passion and money was going to a franchise that did not have winning as its top priority. If you're a Pirates fan, looking over the ledge and considering a nice relaxing death jump is probably not far from the forefront of your sports related consciousness. But then to add a squeeze of lemon juice to the fresh paper cut you get on a daily basis watching Sportscenter, the team goes and trades your best young player for 3 more unproven minor leaguers who, if they mature into good prospects, will then be added to the bottomless bag of trade bait that is the Pittsburgh Pirates.
So would a salary cap help a team like the Pirates? Would it help baseball in general? Before you yell "YES" at the top of your lungs, think about it. If there were a cap in baseball, there would have to be a minimum as well. Would you expect your team to just go and spend the maximum they can to get good players? Sure you would, but that would not be the reality. Teams that have owners similar to the Pirates are a "bottom line" type of bunch. And there are plenty of them in sports. Owners like Steinbrenner, Cuban, and the Maloof bros. are the minority. Of course all owners want their teams to win, but not for the same reasons. In order to be a great sports franchise owner, you have to put the bottom line as your second priority. Not an easy task for billionaires. They were groomed to protect and serve the almighty dollar their whole lives.
Teams that have that "win first" kind of ownership would probably benefit from a salary cap so they can try to be on an equal playing field with the Yanks, Sox, Mets and Dodgers, but there would still be an awful lot of teams not willing to drop profit for W's. Would the salary cap really equal the playing field, or would it just equal the playing field amongst the teams already spending top dollar on player contracts? Teams not making the revenue they need would still not spend the maximum under the cap while teams that sign checks to the limit would continue to sign the big free agents. So while the league would definitely be different, it would not be groundbreaking.
Many would say, what about the NFL? They have the cap and it seems like everything is rainbows and lucky charms, right? Not so much. While the league has plenty of parity to go around, it does not mean the cap is screwed on tightly. The concept is good, but like communism, it does not take into account the human factor. As the league and the owners prosper under the cap, the players' resentment grows. Veteran contracts are canceled without warning and draftees that have not taken a single snap get $30 million signing bonuses. The NFL cap will not last past the next CBA. We'll probably get some kind of lockout with both sides calling the other greedy until a compromise can be reached.
Back to baseball, is this really what we want; a cap that will act like a band-aid on a volcano? The cap is a vicious circle. The real reform needs to be in ownership. Teams need owners that can turn a profit but at the same time not be afraid to lose some of that profit for glory. Teams need owners who are also fans. Teams need owners who instead of looking at their franchises as just an asset on their spreadsheet, look at them as what they truly are . . . baseball teams.
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11 comments:
Very nice article Koko. That is a thought provoking quiery. I would at first yell "YES" to stop the Yankoffs Steinbrenner spending madness but I'm sure they would give off the contract bonuses to increase the money given to signed players.
Thanks Sean, and you're exactly right, the Yankees would still spend the maximum amount of money they can to improve their team. Other owners will still never take that approach because of business. The Steinbrenners definitely care about turning a profit, but they care about winning just a tad more.
So you would still have the Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, Yanks, and Mets fighting it out for the best free agents.
Bottom line, I don't want to pay 500-2000+ to see athletes. So if that translates into the athlete and the owner making less, then yes put a cap. If a cap only means that the player will make less and the owner makes more and I still pay the same price for all products that revolve around baseball, No cap. Bottom line, fuck them all. Those motherfuckers(owners and players) make too much money. I think we should boycott all sporting events so these motherfuckers know what the rest of the Americans in this country have to deal with on a day to day basis.
Here I am studying for my livelyhood. Its been over a month straight. I should have played baseball like every other Dominican.
Rich the buttery bitterness is oozing off my screen from your comment.
Seriously man you're working so hard I think your brain is totally fried at this point. You'll be ok dude you're on the right path. Just make sure to take out all your frustration on the ball tonight and don't forget how to get to the field. Keep that nugget in a safe place.
Oh and just another reminder, the wings at Gators are called scooter.
Great point Koko.....but don't be fooled all these owners turn a huge profit.
Overall, most of the owners are more limited by the market they are in rather than their own limited pockets. Most of these guys are inately human.......they don't own these teams for purely money they own these teams cause they are fans and love the power and fame it brings them. Think of yourself as an owner.....if you already had all the money you could dream of wouldn't you rather have every single citzen of a state bow down to you by raising a winner?
Most of these owners are probably much richer than Steinbrenner but they simply can't spend as much cause their markets are waaaaay smaller and they have no chance of making anywhere near that money.
And, they won't ever open up their books cause they love to cry that they lost money....but also don't forget most of their business is a CASH generated business. The ballpark is one of the last places you pay cash for nearly everything........and unopened books alow these owners to hide that cash much easier............much like the local dry cleaner or laundry operator probably says he lost money on that business.....that is cause he can hide the cash.......
Anyways, Koko Pirate fans are sickened but that is the reality of baseball. That is a smart move by their owners. Every single small market team stockpiles youth and when they realize their season is not going anywhere they have to make that trade to hope it all comes together for them at the perfect time.
There are a few small market teams like the Twins and A's that have very smart management teams that still can compete.
However, a salary cap would hurt most of all your beloved Yanks. They have a horrible management team that has done an absolutely horrendous job of drafting, trading, and signing free agents. But because they are so inept at their jobs their over abundance of cash to spend generated primarily by the YES network allows them to screw up year after year and not have to worry about it.....oh well we'll just buy another one. If any small market team made any one of the erros the yanks screw up on a yearly basise those teams would be cripled for years.
If the Pirates paid Pavano what the Yanks did......that franchise would have been cripled for most fans life.
Jason Giambi, Jaret Wright, Kei Iwaga?????
Just small examples.
So, Yes I think a salary cap would help but still is not the best solution since the Yanks deserve to have a built in advantage cause they have the largest fan base and are able to squeeze out the most amount of money from their fans......just like the Red Sox etc......
Good points on both sides. This has always been one of the toughest calls. All I know is that in order to be perfectly even/fair just like in all other major sports there has too be equal money/cap to make it technically fair.
But also Baseball has proven unlike any other sport that payroll never guarantees sucsess as much as team chemistry , timely hitting , and good old fashioned pitching !
If one thing I know higher spending almost always assures that the team is somewhat competitive for most of the season unlike a make or brake season for lower funded teams.
How about they just get rid of the small market, baby, bitch ass teams! Does Kansas City really need a baseball team? Ever meet anyone from Kansas? Me neither. I don't even think its a real place. Its fictional, you know like Jesus!
AWWWWW shit!!! You had to get me started Koko.
Let me spit numbers at you guys.
Total $ spent on player salaries in 2009- $2,655,386
Average Team payroll - $88,512
Highest Payroll - Yankees $201,449
Lowest Payroll - Marlins $36,834
With that said, I think that there should be a salary cap, but not because of the "small market" arguement. I believe that there should be a salary cap because if there is a cap, there has to be a floor as well.
My suggestion would be to put a cap on team salaries at $110,000 and a floor at $70,000. Under this system, 7 teams would have to reduce their salaries and 7 teams would have to increase their salaries. Overall, the end result would be a higher average salary for the players, the actual people that the fans come out to see.
If you look at it, it is only a handfull of players making a majority of the money. Under my system, proven players would get what they deserve. One of the biggest knocks on pro sports is that unproven players are earning too much money, thereby making veteran players play for under their value.
Ahhhhhh. There we go, now were cooking with some gas. I knew this would fire things up.
Unfortunately I spent most of my blogging time today debating a giant douche nozzle about satellite radio on Orbitcast.
Keith, of course most of the owners turn a profit, my whole point was sacrificing some of that profit for glory. Do not be naive enough to think most owners are ok with that notion. Most of them are not fans, they are business men first. The ones that are fans are the ones you already know. Come on now, if we owned a team together, we would be all over the news. We would sit with the fans, we would do all the stuff you see with the realy fan friendly owners. With the Steinbrenners, it's a family thing. The Yankees are the Steinbrenners and what happens with the team reflects the family. Big George always loved competive sports and made millions with horse racing as well.
And how can you say the Pirates made a smart move? Giving up a talent for minor leaguers because you're out of the running is one thing. Doing it every year is another. When will they ever be good? Pirate fans are irate, even by Pittsburgh standards. And they have every right to be. They just signed this guy to a 3 year deal. You have to start somewhere. But starting over every year is just a commitment to the bottom line and not the fans. Period. Excalmation point. Semicolon. Question Mark. Two dots over the U.
Also your Yankee attacks are so weak Keith. As if the Yankees are the only ones to ever have a big contract go bust. Every team has had this happen to them. A good percentage of the Yankees contract work out just fine. And take Giambi out of the conversation please, he put up great numbers while in NY. He was not a dissapointment at all.
You say the Yankees should not have a built in advantage because they have the largest fan base. Well I guess that's a negative? Why do they have the largest fan base? Why do they make the most money? If management is so bad and they run the team so poorly, how can they achieve this? They wouldn't. The truth is the Yankees are a good business and it has been run very well for a long time now. The YES network generates cash hand over fist for them. That's a bad thing? Sounds like a good business decision to me. So good, the Mets went and copied them with the SNY network. It's a success as well. Maybe the Brewers should look into generating some cash in different ways. They have good management don't they? They have a good fanbase right? What's stopping them then. It's not like Milwakee has all of the competion for the entertainment dollar like Miami and New York, right? Oh well, I'm sure they'll figure it out before you die.
Oh and by the way, if the Yankees win the Series this year, they'll once again be the most successful team of the decade. They currently have 6 division titles, 3pennants and 1 championship in this decade. A series victory this year would make the them highest achieving team once again. How's that for sneaking up on you and yanking your dick. Pun intended.
Dave, I think you're right. Isn't Clark Kent from Kansas? It must be fictional.
Regs. I think you meant $110 millon and $70 million right? I don't think ARod is going to play for less than a Suffolk county police officer. Although he should right?
Team salaries mean almost nothing. You still have to win the damn series. And it's been proven over and over again that small market teams can do it and win the whole thing.
No one responded to the part about the NFL. They are going to be in trouble after next year. Caps only work unitl the CBA runs out. Then the players want it gone. It will never stop. I like the salary reform idea as well Regs. I do think there should be some sort of system where longevity is rewarded instead of young phenoms. Pay your dues like other jobs. Of course bonuses could even out the disparity between the most and least productive players.
I can't believe our fucking game got rained out! Damnit!
mmmm....scooter
yes, I meant millions. Sorry.
My opinion is that the NFL will agree to a new cap with tweeks to the old one. Players have it too good. 65% of the revenue of every team goes to the players. Remember, it was the owners that opted out of the current deal. Think about it, basically, the only knock on the NFL system is that top 10 draft picks eat up too much of the cap. This is true, but a minor problem compared to other sports.
I cannot stress it enough, if you have a cap and a floor, everyone benefits. Teams would sign their top players early in their careers to long term contracts; teams wouldn't be able to dump contracts early in the season; if you are at or above the cap, it would force you to trade somebody for minor league prospects, thus helping out the minor league systems.
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