Thinking about an MLB salary floor
First Pitch: 12:40 PM CT (changed from the usual 1:10 to avoid clashing with Minnesota Timberwolves playoff traffic)
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN
Know Thine Enemy: Crashing the Pearly Gates
I think most sports fans would agree that a salary cap is the best way to achieve parity in league competition. With how well the cap works in the NFL, it is hard to argue that point.
However, the NFL is—generally-speaking—filled with owners who are motivated to put a solid product on the field (in part because of the leveling cap, though now the snake is eating its tail). In Major League Baseball, that seems to be more of a problem.
The Pohlad’s, Bob Nutting’s (Pittsburgh Pirates), and Bruce Sherman’s (Miami Marlins) of the world seem uninterested in running MLB clubs as anything other than part of the family business portfolio and spending not a penny more than 51% of revenue. Even getting to that figure is often sketchy. The total Marlins payroll, for example, is roughly $66 million—which would have been considered low two decades ago. Today? An absolute embarrassment.
Photo by Jasen Vinlove/Miami Marlins/Getty Images
So, I was very interested to read of late that MLB is considering a salary floor in conjunction with a proposed cap (though I suspect the cap is a bargaining chip to get the Players Union to accept the floor).
I like the idea of a salary floor, if mainly because I subscribe to the Herm Edwards philosophy of sports…
“When you start telling me it doesn’t matter, then retire—get out!”
A salary floor would prevent MLB owners from pocketing large portions of their attendance and media money and re-investing the bare minimum back into the club. Perhaps some provision could be included that if the salary floor minimum is violated, an owner has to put the team up for sale.
In short, I actually want more bajillionaires as MLB owners—folks willing to lose a little bit in the short term in pursuit of long-term brand building and competitive squads. To me, this is preferable to the Pohlads largely treating the Twins like Carl’s community banking empire.
Thoughts on the salary floor? Let’s hear ‘em as the Twins try to finish up a sweep of the Halos—generally high-spenders, if usually on the wrong players at the worst possible times.
