Sports Daily: Yanks land Tanaka, Revisiting the Idea of a Salary Cap

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by pietasterp

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your larger point, but while I agree the early part of the dynasty years (i.e. '96-2000) were not necessarily acquired, the next 10 years of their history were largely characterized by picking off a lot of high profile talent from other teams at or near the peaks of their careers (and inflating the FA market in the process); Giambi, Clemens, A-Rod, Curtis Granderson, Teixeira, Sabathia.... Now they didn't all lead directly to titles, but it did lead to consistent post-season appearances. And if you subscribe to the theory that once you get in the post-season, the small sample sizes allow for chance to play a greater role (i.e. making it to the post season is skill, winning it all requires luck as well), the real measure of the result of big spending is post-season appearances, which the Yankees did pretty much every year of the 2000's.

To me, Giambi is the only one of those that fits the profile you first suggested (small or mid market team develops young star, only to lose him to Yankee megabucks). Clemens was 36. The Rangers stupidly overbid for A-Rod in the first place and received Soriano in the deal. The Tigers received decent value for Granderson in Austin Jackson. Texas received tremendous value for Teixeira (the Yankees signed him off the Angels, who aren't exactly poor). The Indians haven't received much so far for Sabathia (Brantley?), but the Brewers got a playoff appearance out of him.

Personally, I don't mind the Yankees appearing in the playoffs most of the time (unless they consistently win titles) for the same reason I don't mind seeing the Patriots around. Every sport needs a villain, and nothing's more satisfying than watching the Yanks or Pats get booted from the postseason.

[NYJets]

Also, I don't think it's fair to go back to the early 2000s to make examples of why things need to change, as things already have changed. Rules have changed regarding revenue sharing and luxury tax, among other things. Teams are doing a much better job of locking up their young talent, and more teams are spending money.

2005

1.	New York Yankees	$205,938,439
2.	Boston Red Sox	$121,311,945
3.	New York Mets	$104,770,139
4.	Philadelphia Phillies	$95,337,908
5.	Los Angeles Angels	$95,017,822
6.	St. Louis Cardinals	$93,319,842
7.	San Francisco Giants	$89,487,842
8.	Chicago Cubs	$87,210,933
9.	Seattle Mariners	$85,883,333
10.	Atlanta Braves	$85,148,582
11.	Los Angeles Dodgers	$81,029,500
12.	Houston Astros	$76,779,022
13.	Chicago White Sox	$75,228,000
14.	Baltimore Orioles	$74,570,539
15.	Detroit Tigers	$68,998,183
16.	Arizona Diamondbacks	$63,015,834
17.	San Diego Padres	$62,888,192
18.	Florida Marlins	$60,375,961
19.	Cincinnati Reds	$59,658,275
20.	Minnesota Twins	$56,615,000
21.	Oakland Athletics	$55,869,262
22.	Texas Rangers	$55,307,258
23.	Washington Nationals	$48,581,500
24.	Colorado Rockies	$47,789,000
25.	Toronto Blue Jays	$45,336,500
26.	Cleveland Indians	$41,830,400
27.	Milwaukee Brewers	$40,234,833
28.	Pittsburgh Pirates	$38,138,000
29.	Kansas City Royals	$36,881,000
30.	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	$29,893,567

2013

1.	New York Yankees	$228,835,490	$7,151,109
2.	Los Angeles Dodgers	$216,597,577	$7,468,882
3.	Philadelphia Phillies	$165,385,714	$6,125,397
4.	Boston Red Sox	$150,655,500	$5,021,850
5.	Detroit Tigers	$148,414,500	$5,708,250
6.	San Francisco Giants	$140,264,334	$5,009,441
7.	Los Angeles Angels	$127,896,250	$4,736,898
8.	Chicago White Sox	$119,073,277	$4,410,121
9.	Toronto Blue Jays	$117,527,800	$3,791,219
10.	St. Louis Cardinals	$115,222,086	$3,973,175
11.	Texas Rangers	$114,090,100	$4,074,646
12.	Washington Nationals	$114,056,769	$4,386,799
13.	Cincinnati Reds	$107,491,305	$4,134,281
14.	Chicago Cubs	$104,304,676	$3,596,713
15.	Baltimore Orioles	$90,993,333	$3,137,701
16.	Atlanta Braves	$89,778,192	$3,095,800
17.	Arizona Diamondbacks	$89,100,500	$2,970,017
18.	Milwaukee Brewers	$82,976,944	$2,765,898
19.	Kansas City Royals	$81,491,725	$3,018,212
20.	Pittsburgh Pirates	$79,555,000	$2,651,833
21.	Cleveland Indians	$77,772,800	$2,592,427
22.	Minnesota Twins	$75,802,500	$2,707,232
23.	New York Mets	$73,396,649	$2,530,919
24.	Seattle Mariners	$72,031,143	$2,770,429
25.	Colorado Rockies	$71,924,071	$2,766,310
26.	San Diego Padres	$67,143,600	$2,165,923
27.	Oakland Athletics	$60,664,500	$2,091,879
28.	Tampa Bay Rays	$57,895,272	$2,144,269
29.	Miami Marlins	$36,341,900	$1,135,684
30.	Houston Astros	$22,062,600	$817,133

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by NYJets

Houston Astros $22,062,600

10char

[Picci]

I don't want a salary cap, nor do I believe its needed in the game. For one, it at least gives the young athlete the perspective that baseball can give him the freedom to pursue greater riches than any other sport if he's gifted. This is one way of "showering" the athlete to play baseball instead of the other sports.

However, I do have a problem with how the Yankees can conduct business that other clubs are not able to compete against. In 2013, the Yankees have already stated that they will go "above and beyond", when it comes to international spending. They already have a leg up with Japan's Yomiuri Giants (hence the Hideki Matsui signing with no competition) and now have readied themselves to pillage South America. There, lies the problem.

[feztonio]

Quote: Originally Posted by DrJones

Seattle can't afford it? Last I checked, Nintendo was worth $85 billion US.

for 2014 the yankees are barely touching $200 million - they were under 189m prior to tanaka. between 65% and 70% of revenue is shared equally between the 30 clubs; therefore if NY can pay 200, then every other team can afford a minimum of $130m.

the problem isn't the evil Yankees as most teams love to blame.. it's the greed of your owners who put 22m on the field in the case of Houston, then keep the other 118m in their tight-wad ownership pockets.

that revenue sharing isn't the only money a team gets however.. on top of that 118m from revenue sharing, the owners get to pocket the profits from ticket sales, food, parking, foam fingers, jerseys, caps, video game licensing, and all the other little gotchyas and fees associated with selling seats to 82 home games a season. for example if each ticket costs $20 dollars, and the stadium seats 20,000 fans (very low end values for this example but it makes the math easier - then each game a team earns $400,000 dollars; for 82 regular season games that's earnings of $32,800,000 dollars which is $10m more than Houston is putting into their MLB roster.

but wait the money isn't done yet. each team gets their regional and local television and network revenues, advertising revenues and possibly local radio deals which all bring in tens-of-millions of dollars a season or more depending on market size and team popularity.

with all this money each team is making every year.. who is the problem? the Yankees who spend the money on their roster, or the 24 or 25 teams who's owners keep all that money for themselves and put a AA-AAA roster on the field??

[feztonio]

in 2014 the yankees are barely touching $200 million - they were under 189m prior to tanaka. the larger issue is the what each owner does with the hundreds of millions of dollars per season that comes into his greedy fingers...

first, between 65% and 70% of revenue is shared equally between the 30 clubs; therefore if NY can pay 200, then every other team can afford a minimum of $130m.

the problem isn't the evil Yankees as most teams love to blame.. it's the greed of your owners who put 22m on the field in the case of Houston, then keep the other 118m in their tight-wad ownership pockets.

it's also a laugh when Miami, Denver, Baltimore/DC metroplex, SanFransico/Oakland metroplex, Dallas/Ft Worth metro, Minneapolis/St Paul metro... plead poverty and small market status. these are some of the largest and most affluent cities and regions not only in the United States but in the entire world and history of human existence. that these owners get away with bold-faced lying about market size and no one in the media calls them on it is disgusting

that revenue sharing isn't the only money a team gets however.. on top of that 118m from revenue sharing, the owners get to pocket the profits from ticket sales, food, parking, foam fingers, jerseys, caps, video game licensing, and all the other little gotchyas and fees associated with selling seats to 82 home games a season. for example if each ticket costs $20 dollars, and the stadium seats 20,000 fans (very low end values for this example but it makes the math easier - then each game a team earns $400,000 dollars; for 82 regular season games that's earnings of $32,800,000 dollars which is $10m more than Houston is putting into their MLB roster.

but wait the money isn't done yet. each team gets their regional and local television and network revenues, advertising revenues and possibly local radio deals which all bring in tens-of-millions of dollars a season or more depending on market size and team popularity.

with all this money each team is making every year.. who is the problem? the Yankees who spend the money on their roster, or the 24 or 25 teams who's owners keep all that money for themselves and put a AA-AAA roster on the field??

[dickey1331]

Like others have said I don't think baseball needs a salary cap. Its not the Yankees fault that Houston won't spend any money.

[24]

The best thing about Baseball is the fact there is no salary cap. The owners choose what they want to do with their money. George (And Now Hal) always wanted the Yanks to be in contention for a world series. Because of that he Spent a huge amount of money on free agents.

It's not like the Yankees are a monopoly. They don't sign every single free agent. They had a big offseason this year because they have no MLB ready prospects that could fill the massive holes in the team. They Needed a top tier starting pitcher. They needed another outfielder to replace Granderson. They needed a Catcher They couldn't address those problems within the organization so they got some new players.

And it's not like other teams can't do the same. Seattle is owned by the Nintendo Guy which makes a ton of money every year. The Giants owner has a net worth of about 6 Billion.