[Goody]

Lots of salary cap complaining's scattered around here. Mostly started by me, yes. But I haven't been the only one.

What I really can't understand is why, as a fan, you would argue against it. You're not a player trying to make more money. You're not the Yankees threatening legal action against the league for even thinking about a salary cap (after Milwaukee and Boston were campaining for it).

So let's really take a look at this. I found a great article to get us started

As Evidence Mounts, MLB Needs a Salary Cap | Bleacher Report

Little League enrollment has been steadily declining (by 1 percent per year) since 1996

· A Harris Poll from 2008 shows that among American’s who follow one or more sports, Football is still the most popular at 30 percent , up six points since 1985. Meanwhile baseball has dropped six points from 23 percent to 15 percent since 1985 (The Harris Poll No. 13, February 5, 2008)

· All-Star Game Ratings Decline: The TV ratings for the MLB All-Star game have steadily declined since 1967. From 1967 (25.6 rating) to 1980 (26.8), the ratings remained similar. The trend shifted however. In 1990 the rating was 16.2. It fell to 10.1 in 2000, and was a mere 9.3 in 2008, down nearly 18 full points (a point per year) since 1990. (Baseball Almanac)

· World Series Ratings Decline: More importantly, World Series ratings have also been waning for baseball. 40 years ago, the World Series had a 22.8 rating. In 1973, the rating was 30.7 and peaked in 1980 at 32.8. The decline began soon after. 1990 saw a 20.8 rating, followed by a 12.4 rating in 2000, and down to an 8.4 rating in 2008, the lowest by far. (Baseball Almanac)

· 1988: The New York Yankees topped the league with an $18.9 million annual payroll, while the lowest payroll team was the Chicago White Sox at $5.9Million - a $13 million difference (320 percent ) top to bottom

· 1998: Baltimore led the league with a $70.4 million payroll while Montreal was last in spending at only $9.2 Million - a $61.2 million (765 percent ) difference top to bottom.

· 2008: The Yankees had a payroll of $209 million (more than double their spending 8 years prior) as compared to the Marlins at $21.8 million—an enormous $187 million difference (959 percent).

Teams ranked top 10 in Payroll (payroll rank 1-10) – 57 playoff appearances – 59 percent

· Teams in the Middle 10 in Payroll (payroll rank 11-20) – 27 playoff appearances – 28 percent

· Teams in the Bottom 10 in Payroll (payroll rank 21 and lower) – 12 playoff appearances – 13 percent

Top 5 in Payroll (payroll rank 1-5) – 34 appearances – 35 percent

· Rank 6-10 in Payroll – 23 appearances – 24 percent

· Rank 11-15 in Payroll – 18 appearances – 19 percent

· Rank 16-20 in Payroll – 9 appearances – 9 percent

· Rank 21-25 in Payroll – 6 appearances, 6 percent

· Rank 26-30 in Payroll – 6 appearances, 6 percent

Summary

The past decade has exacerbated the need for a Salary Cap in baseball. The spending deltas are disparate and growing (doubling every nine to 10 years). The evidence is there that spending affects who goes to the playoffs. A disproportionate number of the Haves go to the playoffs vs. the Have Nots.

One of the notable issues discussed throughout the media and the public is the effect that the maldistribution of power has on the fan’s sense of the fairness of the game. The debate about having a salary cap in baseball isn’t new. But evidence continues to pile up pointing to the obvious—Baseball is broken.

Baseball doesn’t offer a fair playing field between large and small markets. The notion of parity in Baseball isn’t a reality as much as it is in the NFL or the NHL. Baseball is suffering. And Baseball is in denial. At a minimum, fixing the parity issue in baseball is possible and there is asolution out there called the salary cap. It works in other leagues.

If the problems (even beyond the maldistribution of power) in the game aren’t addressed, will we see a Five-TV Rating for the World Series this year? How long will it be before the NHL overtakes MLB in popularity? How long will it be before foreign-born talent represents the majority of players in the game as more and more American kids stop playing it?

For MLB’s sake, I hope they wake up and realize these aren’t benign issues, they are malignant and spreading. One thing we know for sure, most of the problems, while having been diagnosed, aren’t being treated. Shame on MLB.