Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has opened the door to the possible implementation of a salary cap as a solution to narrowing the growing gap between big and small markets in his circuit.
The major leagues are the only North American circuit not to have imposed this measure to ensure that there is a certain parity between the organizations. Indeed, the National Hockey League, NFL, Major League Soccer, and NBA all use this system.
“I don’t think anyone on the club side is persuaded that a salary cap is necessarily the answer. We’ve avoided proposing a salary cap for a very long time,” Manfred first said when appearing on “The Show” podcast on Tuesday.
“But there is a hard truth to ignore: there are five major professional circuits in North America and four of them have a system. One of them has a different system. I am in a way a partisan of the idea that the majority ends up doing things well, then explained the commissioner. When you’re on the fringe, you have to ask yourself, does anyone else have the right system?”
Currently in major league baseball, 14 of the 30 teams are spending more than $200 million on player salaries. There are also seven clubs that will spend less than $120 million on this in 2023.
To give a more concrete example of the disparity in spending on hiring players, the New York Mets have a payroll of $375.3 million, while the Oakland Athletics have a payroll of $77.1 million. .
To implement a salary cap, Major League Baseball will have to come to an agreement with the Players’ Association, which will not be easy. Last February, union director Anthony Clark said his organization would never agree to such a system.
The major leagues and the Players Association hold a valid employment contract until the conclusion of the 2026 season and the establishment of a salary cap could not be achieved before the end of it.
