Thursday, December 07, 2006

Floor and a Ceiling Needed

The other night my wife and I were at a silent auction and watched as the people with way more than us made bids above and beyond anything we could have paid.

We felt a bit like small market owners at the winter meetings.

This winter so far has been particularly crazy, what with the signing of Alfonso Soriano and Gary Matthews Jr. each going for way more than they're worth. But that's baseball these days. And for most people, it's the best argument for a salary cap.

The truth is, the cap would be for the wrong reasons. People think a cap would level the playing field, but it would really be there just to save the owners from themselves. Nobody is forcing owners to offer ridiculous salaries for Matthews. The owners are overpaying, and there's nobody to blame but them. I can understand the players fighting it. For many of them, the owners are just throwing money at them. Who are they to turn it down?

A salary cap is not the full answer; it's only half. What's needed in addition is a salary floor, a mininum amount spent each year on the players' salaries. This would force owners to loosen the purse strings and also keep the big market teams closer in check.

For us Royals fans, this would be great. Imagine having the owner and general manager forced to spend money. Meanwhile, teams on the upper end will be kept in check.

Like the salary cap, the salary floor is a pipe dream. Players don't want to be told they can't make more money and owners won't be happy being forced to spend more.

I know this isn't a new argument. It's like when people complain about the BCS. It's stupid and everyone is pretty much in agreement with that. But nothing will be done to fix it until the people in charge figure out what everyone else already knows.

I'm coming from a mid-to high market team. So for you longtime fans, what would you like to see done about the disparity in the team payrolls?
Posted by Joe :: 2:17 PM ::

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