by M. Frederick Voorhees

Created on: June 06, 2007   Last Updated: October 10, 2011

So far, this topic has been one of those "wouldn't it be nice" topics, one that we talk about on par with a college football playoff system, equal opportunities for African-American coaches, Notre Dame joining the Big 10 conference, and other sports fantasies that make perfect sense but will come to pass. Still, we say it longingly: wouldn't it be nice if the MLB developed a salary-cap system?

The current system of revenue sharing (and of rich owners in rich cities paying their guys a hell of a lot more than the struggling teams can afford to pay theirs) is not in any way good for baseball. I say this as a diehard Boston fan, not as some poor disgruntled soul in a small market town like Kansas City or Tampa Bay. How many more seasons must we endure, watching the same six or seven teams vie for the World Series title, before someone starts to talk seriously about a salary cap.

I remember the sheer ecstacy I felt when my New England Patriots shocked the heavily favored Rams in the Super Bowl in 2001. At that time the Pats were the underdog (believe it or not) and John Clayton and the other so-called experts at ESPN didn't even give us a chance; that was what made the victory so much sweeter. The following year the Pats didn't even make the playoffs, but I was okay with that because I felt like the competition was honest and fair. As a fan I was confident that the NFL had done its job in fostering legitimate competition in a very healthy league.

As a Red Sox fan, I can't feel that joy anymore. When we finally won the World Series in 2004, we did it with several very average players-or players who I considered average at the time-including Orlando Cabrera, Doug Mienkievicz, Mark Bellhorn, Trot Nixon, Kevin Millar, and Bill Mueller; and with a rotation that included the aging Tim Wakefield and no-name Bronson Arroyo. It was so satisfying to beat the Yankees, a "who's who" assortment of All Stars at every position. Then we decided to replicate them, trading away the heart of our locker room the following year for a team that looked great on paper.

Its not fun to win when I know the scales are tipped in our favor. I feel awkward showing up at a stadium in Miami or in Minnesota or in Baltimore to find half the people who live there rooting for my team, because Boston can afford more superstars.

The point isn't that the small market are always a failure. Teams like the Marlins, Twins, and A's have shown in recent years that its possible to be competitive on a fairly modest payroll. But without a salary cap, baseball will never have the type of healthy type of league competition that fans have grown to expect from the NFL and NBA. How can a team like Tampa Bay be a serious contender; their entire roster only makes 24 million a season, while three players on the Yankees (A-Rod, Giambi, and Jeter) make over 20 million.

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