Out of Control

The MLB’s Salary Cap Issue Is Getting Out of Hand

Photo by Towfiqu Barbhuiya on Unsplash

Superstar Juan Soto’s final decision is… Once the MLB season ends in October, every team looks to get better. These teams often turn to free agency to find their next star, while other teams turn to calling up younger players from the minor-leagues for their improvements. Overall, the offseason can mark the turning point of any MLB franchise.

During the MLB offseason many superstar athletes often end up on new teams. For example, star pitcher Blake Snell signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason. Teams like the Dodgers and New York Mets have spent over $1 billion on their respective teams in the last two offseasons, while teams like the Miami Marlins and Minnesota Twins have spent less than $10 million. These drastic differences in money spent have caused questions on whether or not the MLB should have a salary maximum and minimum.

“There should be a maximum and minimum salary cap,” junior Ben Wagnon said. “Both of these would control the money that goes to players better and would stop the creation of super teams.”

The Dodgers and Mets spending elaborate amounts of money have led to these teams becoming super teams. The Dodgers in the last two offseasons have signed multiple all-stars, including Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Kirby Yates and Teoscar Hernandez, along with Japanese superstars Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yammamoto. These players alone are considered some of the best in baseball at their position and put the Dodgers at a huge advantage for signing all these superstars.

Though the players can go to any team, the teams that spend more are more likely to get these players. The Tampa Bay Rays have spent only $26 million in the last two offseasons, yet they constantly go after superstar free agents like Juan Soto; however, they never offer enough money to land these players. Even though some teams are offering ridiculous contracts like Ohtani’s 10-year contract for $700 million and Soto’s 15-year $765 million contract, this money is often deferred to be paid later.

“Teams should not be able to defer money,” freshman Nicky Fiore said. “If a team wants to sign a player, they should be able to pay a player what he is worth at the time of signing him.”

Deferring money has been a problem in the MLB for a long time, recently it has started to become more out of hand. Especially for Ohtani, where a majority of his contract will likely be getting paid to him when he is not playing for the Dodgers. This often may put other teams at a disadvantage because paying superstar’s later might not be possible for them. Still, people vote against having a salary cap to regulate this.

The salary cap in the MLB has become a need to have both a maximum and minimum. Though most players would like to play in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, the imbalance of superstar power is prevalent throughout the MLB. With a cap maximum and minimum more teams would sign superstar players, which would make the competition of all MLB teams greater.

“The MLB should not have a minimum or maximum,” freshman Johnny Papuchis said. “It is the player's choice and they control their own destiny.”

The salary cap issues in the MLB are climbing to the top of commissioner Rob Manfred’s issues, and will eventually cause a decision to be made before the MLB gets completely out of hand.