The MLB Has a Problem

Edition #206

Before I put this out there, I’m just going to say this. Here’s exactly what I was thinking yesterday…

When the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani, I was (obviously) really happy. I would have loved Juan Soto to come to the Dodgers, but if he did, the MLB would have a crazy impact. But why? What is this impact? Why exactly is this the case?

I put out a note on the day of the Blake Snell signing. Why are people hating on the Dodgers? They’re doing what teams need to do. Spend money.

But, there’s a problem. And it’s all related to the money. Let’s look at it.

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So, by now, all of you (including my fellow NFL and NBA fans), have heard about Juan Soto’s mega contract.

It’s a mega contract indeed. 15 years, 765 million dollars, with a chance of that number going up to 805 fricking million dollars.

Put that in your mind for a second.

You can buy a private island, a Cullinan diamond, or a Maybach Exelero. Using the current 2024 NWSL valuations, you would be able to buy 10 of those franchises.

Never would I have ever thought that a baseball player would be the leader for the biggest contract in professional sports, but that’s the world we’re in.

But, it seems like it’s only the Mets and the Dodgers making a real push to win.

Now, teams are doing stuff in different ways. You got the Orioles and Astros, who constantly produce amazing prospects. You have the Dodgers, Mets, and the Yankees, who are always ready to spend after free agents. Of course, then you have teams like the Phillies and Giants, who don’t usually go after the top guys, but established veterans. The Padres are a team in all of these categories, and they really want to win.

But, that’s it… That’s 7 teams. That’s 4.28571428571st of the MLB actually pushing and trying to win games.

Then you have the other teams, which fall into two categories.

1. Teams that make an addition or two, but are only in it to collect the paycheck. (Ex. Arizona Diamondbacks).

2. Teams that don’t make any additions at all, don’t care about the MLB and are just in it to collect the paycheck. (Ex. Oakland A’s).

But, the problem isn’t the players. Every baseball player in the MLB, right now, wants to win the World Series. It’s a league with the best in the world. That trophy is a prized possession.

It’s the owners and the money rules & regulations.

Let’s begin with the owners. In the NBA and NFL, while there are a few misers (guess) who just want to get the paycheck and move on, most of the teams are trying. This includes the Giants, Jets, Titans, and Jaguars in the NFL or the Raptors, Pistons, Pelicans, and Kings in the NBA.

Yes, however bad these teams may be, they’re trying to be good.

Everyone knows the game of baseball, and most people love the whole game of baseball. It was America’s sport. America’s pastime.

But, times have changed since then. Yeah, you have Rob Manfred, who’s ruining the way in every way possible (I mean, the Golden At-Bat rule? Come on! The Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, or any other team loaded with superstars would just beat everyone up. Do you even want to be the commissioner?). Then you have the stretch of the games. Baseball has always been a slow-moving sport, and in this day and age, not many people have that much time to sit down and watch a ball game every single day. You can’t exactly blame this on anyone.

You could argue the same about football. It takes almost the same time (3 hours w/ commercial breaks), it is on Sunday, it is played during the work week, etc. But, the difference is that football is more action-packed. That’s exactly why American football became America’s game.

Plus, each football game is so exclusive, with each team only getting one a week. In baseball, when you’re about 3 months into the season, missing one game is completely fine, because your team probably has one the next day, or the day after. In football, 3 months, is Week 12. It’s playoff push time for each team in the mix.

Well, that was a bit of a tangent.

What I’m trying to say is, that the MLB is rapidly losing viewer numbers. Even if Japan is watching, this isn’t the MLBJ (Major League Baseball Japan), but the MLB based in the United States of America.

Let me tell you a bit more.

If the owners aren’t going to try to build their teams and make them good, then why would any fans of that city, or fans in general, watch their team play? Every fan wants their team to win, not go for draft picks, or have their owners make money.

The more and more owners like this, the fewer and fewer people watch it. If this trend continues, we might have the MLB rig a few signings. Heck, we might even have the MLB rig the World Series!

If you want someone to blame for making your team lose, blame it on the owners, who are most likely the ones who are making sure that your team doesn’t spend.

Let’s continue the blame game, and head on over to money rules and regulations.

You see, many people talk about the no-salary cap situation in the MLB and say that it sucks. They also say that this is the reason superteams are being formed. Not true. After talking to some lead analysts, they say this is why the MLB is so fair. Over the last several years, we’ve had several different champions. Yes, the Dodgers have gotten 2 in 4 years, but it’s also given a chance for teams like the Rangers or the Rays to even get up to the World Series point.

The salary cap isn’t the problem, but the salary floor is.

Many of you might be thinking. Why are the Sacramento Athletics, actually spending money on free agents? Is it to irk all the A’s fans? Well, here’s what it is.

The Oakland Athletics are required to spend at least $105 million on player payroll for the upcoming season due to the terms set by the MLB's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) regarding revenue sharing. Specifically:

• MLB teams that receive revenue-sharing money must reinvest a portion of those funds back into their team's payroll. According to the CBA, teams are generally required to spend at least 1.5 times the amount of money they receive from revenue sharing on player salaries.

• Reports indicate that the A's are expected to receive about $70 million from revenue sharing this year, thus requiring them to have a payroll of at least $105 million (1.5 times $70 million) to comply with the CBA's conditions for revenue-sharing recipients.

This requirement is to ensure that teams using revenue sharing funds are investing in their team's competitiveness rather than simply pocketing the money. If the A's fail to meet this payroll threshold, they could face grievances from the MLB Players Association.

This situation reflects how the MLB structures its financial regulations to balance competition and economic distribution among teams without instituting a traditional salary cap or floor.

It’s good that the MLB has this, but not every team does.

This really connects to the first reason, because the owner just pockets the money and move on, trying to make sure he doesn’t spend money on the players at all. Fans are fans, and they’re a huge part of the revenue, but if this is an owner who has bought the team from an owner who did some good, fans will come and they’ll stay.

If there is a salary floor, owners will be forced to spend more money on better players, making the team more competitive. Even setting a salary floor of $120 million, will be perfect to make teams competitive. They’ll have to push for Soto. They’ll have to push for Burnes. They’ll have to push for Fried.

29 of the 30 owners will be forced to do their team good.

But, one guy will outsmart all the others. Who is this? Give me your thoughts in the comments below. The next post will kind of follow up on this.

Conclusion:

The MLB needs a salary floor.

Hope you liked this edition. A few words may be a bit here and there, because I started writing this the moment the Juan Soto contract released, and never got to it.