by Rob Linker

Created on: July 11, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Major League Baseball should not introduce a salary cap. Its current setting with a luxury tax and revenue sharing is working just fine. The current system allows for teams to spend as much as they want, but not without penalty. By spending over the luxury tax they are required to give a percentage of their payroll costs to the rest of the league.
Debates that point out that a salary cap would increase competitiveness and smaller market teams chances for a championship in the sport are false. Smaller market teams are always going to be smaller market teams. It's up to the owners how much money they spend and who they spend it on even with a salary cap. Just because there's a cap doesn't mean that much will be spent. Even with out a salary cap, smaller market teams in baseball are able to spend money and win, and not spend money and win. In this 2007 season, the American league central Cleveland Indians (who are a small market team) at the all-star break are one game out of first behind the Detroit Tigers (who also are considered a small market team) with a payroll less than thirty three percent of that of the third place American League East New York Yankees who are ten games out of first place. That is proof that money doesn't guarantee winning. The Yankees have proven that over the last six years with ZERO championships in those six years, three of those years the payroll has been close to or over two-hundred million dollars.

Large market teams like the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels deserve to spend the amount of money they want to, to bring players to their team. This is because large market teams have a large draw. Not only is the draw from citizens of the area but from tourists as well. What else draws fans to the ballpark, is big names. When a small market team signs a big name player, there is an immediate response on behalf of the fans. Take the Tigers for example. In 2003 the Tigers were one loss away from being the worst team in MLB history. Hardly anyone wanted to go to the games, even in a brand new stadium. In the off-season following that year the Tigers signed Ivan Rodiriguez, an all-star catcher who won the world-series the previous year with the small market Florida Marlins. The Tigers that year surpassed their attendance figures from 2003 around mid-season. This allowed for the Tigers to go spend more money the following years bettering their record and making the World Series in 2006. The Yankees however cannot experience that

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