Baseball doesn't have competitve balance?

[Freelance]

Re: Baseball doesn't have competitve balance?

The difference between the NFL and MLB is the difference between George Steinbrenner and Jerry Jones.

Say what you want, but Jerry Jones understands the importance of Green Bay and San Diego having a fair shot at a Super Bowl. Given the chance, he could WAY outspend almost every team in the league. The Cowboys made him a billionaire recently.

Jones gets it. He looks out for what's best for the league.

Steinbrenner doesn't want a fair league. He wants the rest of the league to do the hard work developing players, so he can then sweep in and take them away with gaudy offers that others simply can't consider offering.

When the Yankees or Red Sox win, do they really? It's like a high school team playing in a junior high league.

[Misfit]

Re: Baseball doesn't have competitve balance?

I'm not sure you can really compare the Yankees to the Red Sox. The difference in payroll is almost 90 million, only about six teams even have a payroll that high. That and John Henry is on board for a salary cap in baseball.

A salary floor is necessary too. I know the focus of this topic has been mostly on the teams that spend in excess, but there are teams who don't spend as much as they can and should. Their owners are content to try and make as much money off the club as possible. To me, a baseball team isn't supposed to be incredibly profitable. Owners should just be trying to break even while taking losses early in their ownership to build up a good team and create a strong fanbase. And as fans we do share a small part of the burden because some teams do try to construct a good team but can't afford to take huge losses and when fans won't show up to the games they're only hurting the situation.