Does this sound familiar? Big name free agent hits the market and promptly signs with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, or Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s the same story year after year.
This year it’s more evident than ever that Major League Baseball needs to adopt a salary cap to keep competitive balance. The two biggest names in free agency this year were two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Guess who they both signed with: The Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani signed a 10 year, 700-million-dollar contract. Let’s put this in perspective: average the salary out to 70 million per season for Ohtani. 70 million is more than the 2023 payroll for the entire roster on the Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Miami Marlins. The Guardians, Reds, Nationals, Mariners, and Diamondbacks were all under 100 million for their entire payroll. How can these teams possibly compete in this economic environment?
Yamamoto just signed a 12 year, 325-million-dollar contract. This is the richest contract for a pitcher in the history of baseball. Have we mentioned that Yamamoto has not pitched a single inning in the major leagues?
It gets real old watching small market teams serve as the farm teams for the big clubs.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHOULD MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ADOPT A SALARY CAP?
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