Is baseball broken?

[msgkings322]

Obviously this has been discussed in multiple threads, just wanted to have a dedicated thread

I think there's arguments both ways

Pro: the Dodgers (and Mets and a few others) have obviously ramped up this discussion lately. There have always been big spenders and small market cheap teams but there have been periods where it was more glaring and this is one of those. Yes occasionally a small spender will sneak into the playoffs and even more rarely they win a title. But let's face it unless you are a fan of the 5-6 teams that get all the free agents you're probably pretty disgusted by the situation. Deferred contracts at least should not be allowed, they just add fuel to the fire.

Con: while TV ratings are declining (some of that is people moving from using TV to watch to the internet), or at least far behind football and basketball, overall revenues keep growing, TV contracts keep growing, salaries keep growing, franchise values keep growing. Until that all stops it's hard to argue the sport is "broken" and the owners and players have very little incentive to change it. Players are not fans, they don't care about competitive balance.

 

[Janus]

I'm in favor of a salary cap, should stop all this spending and distribute wealth evenly

 

[Fountain City Blues]

I am not sure it is broken, but the Dodgers seemingly flaunting basic competition, real or perceived, is rubbing people the wrong way. Magic circle problem.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

There are certainly some broken aspects.

The rookie draft should be for every single player who has not played American professional baseball

And there needs to be a more direct path from draft to majors. Way too much minor leagues.

Really minor leagues is the problem baseball needs to fix.

 

[saturdaysarebetter]

There needs to be a salary floor. Make those cheapskate owners like Nutting in Pittsburgh spend a minimum amount so that they're somewhat competitive. There ought to be a clause in owning sports franchises that you have to finish in the top three of your division or at least over .500 at least once every seven years or you lose ownership rights to the club. That's why they keep track of wins and losses. You're in the game to win and you'll make money regardless.

 

[calsnowskier]

I hate Salary Caps. At least simple caps. They punish teams for putting together strong teams by forcing those teams to be broken up.

While I 100% acknowledge a plan like this will never be implemented, I have long supported a plan essentially like this…

Whatever the league min salary is, that amount is removed from the team salary calc for each player. For example, if league min is 500k, and Player X makes 1M, only 500k of his salary counts towards the cap.

Players who made their MLB debut with their current club have their entire salary exempt from the cap.

Players acquired via trade have 100% of their salary count (minus the league min) for their first season with the team. Season 2, 75%, season 3 50%, season 4 25%, every season thereafter, only 10%. Players acquired via waiver claim count in this tier.

Players acquired vis FA start at 10% and drop 15% per season until they get to the 10% level.

Players who signed minor league deals and played half a season in the minors before being added to the 40-man roster can be treated as if they were acquired via trade. This clause will need some tweaking.

 

[calsnowskier]

And I don’t really get why people see deferred salaries as a major problem, Anyone can do them, not just the dogs and mutts. And the salary tax hit goes towards the accrued season, not the paid season, and the amount is converted to a “current dollar” rate, with an assumed annual interest rate applied tothe deferred amount (think Bobby Bonilla, but not as drastic). Shohei got 70M for2024 (whatever it was, not really important), but he doesn’t get the vast bulk of that money until 2035 or 2040 (whenever). His tax hit to the dogs is whatever principle is required to end up with a 65M payment at the maturity date of the deferment (iirc, he took a “small” 5M payment this year). I know Bobby Bonilla’s interest rate on his payments was 8%. I think Shohei was something similar, so I think his actual tax hit to the dogs was something like 30M in ‘24, not the widely reported 70M.

 

[PolarVortex]

I'm in favor of a salary cap, should stop all this spending and distribute wealth evenly

They have a salary cap and a salary floor. They just don't call them by those names. But, they work basically the same way. Everyone knows who the salary cap violators are. The salary floor violators may soon be the Florida Marlins if they do not use the revenue sharing they were awarded from the 2024 season, to add veteran players to their 2025 team.