Some of you mock MLB for it's supposed lack of competitive balance, but the facts show that there is a lot of balance. *** Sharing the wealth By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports October 21, 2005 No salary cap means no competitive balance, right? Isn't the problem with baseball that the same couple of teams, including the New York Yankees ($208 million payroll), keep on winning while others, such as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays ($29 million), can only keep dreaming? But here we are with the 2005 World Series set to begin Saturday and we are assured that a new champion will be crowned for the fifth consecutive year. Either the Houston Astros or Chicago White Sox will follow the lead of the Boston Red Sox, Florida Marlins, (then) Anaheim Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks. Moreover, Chicago and Houston represent two new clubs in the World Series, just as there were two new ones last year with Boston and St. Louis. An amazing 10 different teams have filled the 12 possible spots in the World Series since 2000, and 14 different clubs have taken 24 possible slots in the League Championship Series. That is called spreading the success around. Let's compare that to the other two major team sports in the United States (sorry NHL, but you have to earn your way back as one of the "Big Four"), both of which have tighter salary structures and better revenue sharing than Major League Baseball's meager luxury tax model. The NFL is the most balanced league with its restrictive cap that makes keeping teams together for multiple seasons nearly impossible. Virtually all television revenue is split up equally, regardless if your market is New York (No. 1) or Green Bay (No. 69). The league prides itself on its "Any Given Sunday" motto. When training camps break each August, just about all 32 NFL teams believe they have a realistic chance at making the playoffs. And because in-season moves are so rare, good teams can't make late-season trades to bolster rosters at the expense of bad teams. Yet in the last six years, the NFL has produced just four different champions (New England, Tampa Bay, Baltimore and St. Louis) and nine Super Bowl teams. Just like baseball, 14 different teams have filled the 24 possible spots in the conference championship games. The NBA has a more flexible salary cap than the NFL – you can exceed it to re-sign free agents – but there is no question that smaller markets such as San Antonio or Sacramento can field great teams. But the NBA has produced just three different champions the last six years (L.A. Lakers, Detroit and San Antonio) and a mere six teams have even reached the NBA Finals. Fifteen different teams have reached the conference finals out of a possible 24. Making the MLB numbers even more impressive is the fact that baseball invites just eight of its 30 teams (26.6 percent) to the postseason. The NFL lets in 12 of 32 (37.5 percent) and the NBA goes with 16 of 30 (53.3 percent), increasing the likelihood of upset-driven diversity in the late rounds. How baseball got so competitive despite a non-competitive salary structure is a testament to the game. Houston ($76.8 million total payroll) and Chicago ($75.1 million) rank a reasonable 12th and 13th, respectively, league-wide in total salary. But this is a sport where big money free agents such as the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, the top-paid player in the game at $26 million this year, can annually gag under the stress of postseason play. This is a sport where even the best player, San Francisco's Barry Bonds, only gets up every few innings. Meanwhile, a basketball player can have an effect at both ends of the court on every single play and a football player can impact at least half of the action. This is a sport where young arms and timely hits and momentum and emotion and strategy and heart can play a huge role. It is where the White Sox can lose $8 million slugger Frank Thomas to injury and ride such a good starting rotation that they hardly needed a bullpen to get to the Series. It's where the Astros can lose their best hitter to high-priced free agency (Carlos Beltran) and have a team, which critics called either too old or too young, somehow turn out just right. It's where one team (Chicago) looks to end an 88-year futility streak, while the other (Houston) wants to lay a 43-year wait to rest – something no one thought either was capable of during spring training. That's baseball. The constant complaint is that the system isn't fair, that the playing field isn't level, that it isn't more like the NFL or NBA. But another Fall Classic begins Saturday, once again with two new teams, two new cities, two new storylines and two rosters full of brand new stars. Let Paul Tagliabue and David Stern be jealous for a change. Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Dan's new book, "Runnin' Rebel: Shark Tales of 'Extra Benefits,' Frank Sinatra and Winning It All" with coach Jerry Tarkanian, is due out in late October
Interesting article, but stupid. The Astros have not won a World Series. Its been 88 years for the Sox. This speaks to advantage teams like the Yankees have. The Astros and Sox aren't exactly bottom dwellers in dollars. I can't see a day where the Devil Rays are champs. The Dbacks have won, but they went into debt for the championship. The Houston Texans are probably messed up for at least 3 or 4 more years, but in 15 years....they could be great. In 15 years, the Yankees will most likely be a 90+ team and that's just assuming a worst case. Basketball is a sport that derives its parity through the draft. One great draft and/or tank can get a team back on it feet. When a team is good it usually lasts a few years because one player cam make a big difference, but each team gets basically the same chance (relative to baseball) to get that player and to hold onto a player.
The problem is that the teams with the lowest payrolls can't keep their good players. Look at Oakland. They lost: Jason Giambi Miguel Tejada Tim Hudson Mark Mulder All casualties of the payroll.
Or, if you look at the last ten years: Yankees - biggest payroll and forty percent of the titles. + Boston - second biggest payroll 50% of the titles + Diamondbacks having a HUGE payroll when they won. 60% of the titles.
Scroll down and maybe you'll notice the difference. Which one is not like the others? Code: 2005 Team Total payroll New York Yankees $ 208,306,817 Boston Red Sox $ 123,505,125 New York Mets $ 101,305,821 Los Angeles Angels $ 97,725,322 Philadelphia Phillies $ 95,522,000 St. Louis Cardinals $ 92,106,833 San Francisco Giants $ 90,199,500 Seattle Mariners $ 87,754,334 Chicago Cubs $ 87,032,933 Atlanta Braves $ 86,457,302 Los Angeles Dodgers $ 83,039,000 Houston Astros $ 76,779,000 Chicago White Sox $ 75,178,000 Baltimore Orioles $ 73,914,333 Detroit Tigers $ 69,092,000 San Diego Padres $ 63,290,833 Arizona Diamondbacks $ 62,329,166 Cincinnati Reds $ 61,892,583 Florida Marlins $ 60,408,834 Minnesota Twins $ 56,186,000 Texas Rangers $ 55,849,000 Oakland Athletics $ 55,425,762 Washington Nationals $ 48,581,500 Colorado Rockies $ 48,155,000 Toronto Blue Jays $ 45,719,500 Cleveland Indians $ 41,502,500 Milwaukee Brewers $ 39,934,833 Pittsburgh Pirates $ 38,133,000 Kansas City Royals $ 36,881,000 Tampa Bay Devil Rays $ 29,679,067 2004 Team Total Payroll Washington Redskins $ 117,962,286 Philadelphia Eagles $ 104,977,331 Houston Texans $ 97,473,626 Detroit Lions $ 94,578,628 Seattle Seahawks $ 94,006,282 Miami Dolphins $ 93,937,308 New York Jets $ 93,866,236 Minnesota Vikings $ 92,407,989 Indianapolis Colts $ 92,209,207 Chicago Bears $ 87,826,859 Carolina Panthers $ 87,807,573 Cleveland Browns $ 87,728,284 Baltimore Ravens $ 86,478,031 Kansas City Chiefs $ 84,617,626 Atlanta Falcons $ 82,711,268 Tampa Bay Buccaneers $ 81,989,547 New York Giants $ 81,657,826 Green Bay Packers $ 80,383,682 Buffalo Bills $ 80,170,229 Tennessee Titans $ 79,003,839 Arizona Cardinals $ 78,961,345 Pittsburgh Steelers $ 77,955,021 Oakland Raiders $ 77,369,122 New England Patriots $ 76,999,180 St. Louis Rams $ 76,389,455 San Diego Chargers $ 76,253,021 New Orleans Saints $ 73,324,022 Denver Broncos $ 72,564,908 Jacksonville Jaguars $ 72,113,009 Cincinnati Bengals $ 68,811,884 Dallas Cowboys $ 65,409,479 San Francisco 49ers $ 63,033,817 2004-05 Team Total Payroll New York Knicks $ 94,067,539 Dallas Mavericks $ 87,400,088 Portland Trail Blazers $ 80,200,284 Minnesota Timberwolves $ 70,123,371 Orlando Magic $ 68,110,249 Indiana Pacers $ 66,325,659 Los Angeles Lakers $ 65,138,976 Philadelphia 76ers $ 63,757,835 Sacramento Kings $ 60,633,211 Miami Heat $ 59,495,338 Memphis Grizzlies $ 59,075,657 Toronto Raptors $ 58,460,390 Houston Rockets $ 57,787,423 New Orleans Hornets $ 56,482,817 Seattle SuperSonics $ 54,184,357 Boston Celtics $ 53,443,677 Golden State Warriors $ 50,863,793 Detroit Pistons $ 49,329,935 Washington Wizards $ 48,797,362 Cleveland Cavaliers $ 48,174,834 San Antonio Spurs $ 47,404,123 Milwaukee Bucks $ 46,379,974 Los Angeles Clippers $ 45,803,819 Denver Nuggets $ 45,716,482 Utah Jazz $ 43,515,760 Chicago Bulls $ 41,942,236 New Jersey Nets $ 41,176,253 Atlanta Hawks $ 40,658,440 Phoenix Suns $ 35,259,424 Charlotte Bobcats $ 23,097,398
Yeah, don't let the facts get in the way of anything. By the way, the Yankees have won exactly 4 World Series titles since 1980. Four championships in the last 25 years of the free agent era - yep, there's a real dynasty.
GOD DAMN, its embarassing how high the houston texans's payroll is... Just makes this awful situation feel worse...
It looks to me like the big spenders in the NFL and NBA aren't getting as much bang for the buck as the big spenders in MLB.
Gwayneco, http://www.economicsbulletin.uiuc.edu/2003/volume1/EB-03A10003A.pdf I'm not saying the Yankees win every year, but teams with big payrolls do significantly better than those without. Teams with a small payroll have little to no chance to win in baseball. The Yankees and Braves have made final 8 the last 11 years. Can you show me another league that has had two teams make final 8 in last 11 years?
I had this discussion with someone at work this week. The problem I have with this person's logic is defining parity by who is in the top four of each sport. Parity should mean most teams have an equal chance to make the playoffs over time - since that's what fans are hoping for at the beginning of the season. Parity in baseball is a joke by this measure. Good luck if you are in a division with the Yankees or Braves. It's also a joke because the Yankees consider a season a failure when they don't win the championship. The only reason that different teams are winning the world series is because over a 7 game series, luck plays a huge part. It's much more probable for a team to go from the cellar to the playoffs in the NBA or the NFL.
That's because the Yankees are idiots with their money. You don't believe there is an advantage to being able to spend 6 to 8 times as much as one of your division opponents? If the Rockets had a salary cap of $8MM compared to everyone else, you don't think they'd be at a disadvantage? Money doesn't necessarily overcome stupidity, but it makes it a hell of a lot easier. The Yankees can make more "mistakes" than anyone else and thus have a much bigger buffer zone to screw up. The fact that they screw up a lot doesn't change the fact that they have that advantage.
I'm with Major. Baseball is my favorite sport by far. And I'll defend it left and right. But it needs more significant revenue sharing and a salary cap of sorts so fans in cities like Pittsburgh can start each season with SOME hope that they have a shot at postseason play.
I think MLB could use a salary cap floor at about 40-50M and a cap around 90M. Gutter Snipe - you should counter that top 4 team argument with comparing it to the bottom 4 teams.
There's no point in discussing this because you guys are blinded by a bias that no facts can counter.
The Yanks have an advantage, but they haven't won thew Series since 2000. How many Super Bowls have New England won during that time? How about the Spurs in the NBA?
This could easily be remedied by expanding the playoffs to 10 or 12 teams. The problem is that it's too easy to make the playoffs in the NFL and NBA. Now, about parity in the NBA: Since 1980, 7 teams have won an NBA championship; 2 teams have combined for 14 titals. Of 52 finals participants, 4 teams have combined for 29 spots; only 4 teams made a single appearance. Every champion in the past 21 seasons is among 5 teams. The Lakers played for the championship 4 of the past 6 years. from http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/business/discussion/yahoo_sports_sharing_the_wealth/
