The most discussed topic in baseball: the salary cap

Of course, you know that the topic had to come up with all of the spending that the Yankees are doing. They have spent 442 million for 4 players, as opposed to the other 29 teams spending 491 million for 58. First of all, that's just a ridiculus amount of money to spend on anything. But aren't the Yankees getting a little out of hand with this spending?

     I say no: they are completely within the bounds of what MLB says they can do, as are other high payroll teams. And it was proved in the last few seasons that money doesn't buy championships. I think it does provide a better chance of winning though, as a team like the Yankees are perennial contenders while a team like the Rays must build for years just to have a chance at the postseason (and usually after that one run a crucial part of the team leaves and it takes longer to replace him). But with all that said, I see nothing wrong with what the Yankees have done, I would have done the same thing if I could.

    But I do think that something needs to be done to curb the spending. Players are receiving an average salary of $3 million a year, and really, there's nobody that needs to be making that much. Yes, we have the luxury tax but I don't think that does as much as they claim. The threshold payroll is 162 million - in other words, if a team spends under that amount then they pay nothing. It might as well be called the Yankees tax because they're the only ones that spent over that amount in 2008, with $209 million in payroll. The next closest was Detroit with $138 million. On top of that, they only pay 40 percent on the amount that exceeds that $162 million. That comes out to $18.8 million in taxes, or $.64 million per team. Doesn't sound like a lot now does it? I think the first thing to do is to lower that salary threshold: make it something like the median payroll, which would be around $89.4 million if we're using 2008 numbers. And raise the percentage you pay as well, something around the neighborhood of 80 percent or so. Make the teams hurt if they want to go over that limit. I don't think that 40 percent is making any team think twice about their new acquisitions this offseason. The last portion of this plan would be to distribute that luxury tax money among teams that need it, a portion to all who did not pay anything, and make sure that money is actually used for player salaries and isn't just sat on by the owners, or put into their pockets.

Whether that plan works or not we won't know unless MLB implements it, which won't happen. I have a feeling that large market owners carry more weight than smaller markets, and we know that they won't be for it. No matter if they modify the luxury tax system or try out a salary cap, I think they need to do something. The salaries are getting out of the control, and they get directly passed down to us through ticket and merchandise prices, which may get so out of hand that it will become a sport where only the ones that are as rich as the ones playing can afford to watch.