Besides the steroid scandal what do u think is the biggest problem in Major League Baseball today?

Question

In my opinion the biggest problem facing baseball today besides the steroid situation is too many owners who care more about pocketing the money they make for themselves instead of making their team better. That's why teams like the Pirates, Royals, Devilrays, Marlins, will continue to go nowhere until Selig has some guts to force these owners to start making these teams competitive or he should only allow people who really care for what's best for the team & fanbase to buy these teams. For all the complaints about George Steinbrener at least he cares for his team & wants to always make them competitive. The other problem is the out of control salaries. They need to be a salary cap but thats a broken record already. If these salaries continue to go out of control many fans will soon not be able to go to the games if they can't already.

Answer 1

I really have no problem with the money players make to the extent that it should be a negotiation between them and the owner that is willing to pay them. With that being said, the system itself is flawed. I would have to agree with you that the imbalance between large market and small market teams is a big problem and has to be corrected. The fans in Kansas City deserve the chance to be competitive and not just be another team for everyone else to beat. But on the other hand look at Oakland, a $55 million payroll and a competitive team every year. I am not sure a salary cap is the answer but I am positive that the owners first objective should be to field a competitive team for the fans and not just look at the bottom line like Sears and IBM.

Answer 2

You're right abut stingy owners, but the players deserve every dollar. The other sports have it wrong; baseball has it right. Or at least they're closer.

The cap idea is stupid, and would never pass so drop it. If you're a Royals or a D-Ray fan, it's your owner's fault your team doesn't compete. There should be a minimum salary point, not a top-out point. If the D-Ray's were forced to spend at least 65 million a year, they'd be a lot more competitive.

We've seen you can't buy championships. How many have the Yanks won in the last five years? That should be a non-issue. But if teams refuse to spend the money, to come to a point where the Yankees don't have 8 or 9 times what the smaller teams are spending, the disparity looks real bad. I don't see how that's the Yankees fault. It's not like they say " that player's worth 10 mil a year, let's give him 50 per". They don't spend more on big-name players, they just accumulate more of them. Those players will get that from one team or another.

Answer 3

There have always been greedy and/or incompetent owners, and there always will be. Sure, there is a need for salary caps, but the owners' avarice throughout the first century of the business of baseball destroyed any chance that the players would cooperate to limit their own salaries.

The biggest problem is the emphasis on offense. The balance between pitching and offence is skewed too far against the pitcher. There should not be a DH, the letter-high strike should be called, and there should be minimum OF distances to prevent creation of bandboxes like the GAP in Cinci.

Another problem is that pitchers are babied throughout the minors with low pitch counts and low inning totals. When they get to the majors, they don't know how to get themselves out of trouble. I'm not saying they should go back to the days when Ryan threw 200+ pitches every 4 days, but Major League pitchers should be able to pitch more than 5 1/3 ineffective innings a week.

Answer 4

The lack of a forceful commissioner. Right now, baseball has no head, Selig is a freakin' joke - the All-Star game decides who's home for the World Series??? Is that the worst decision ever taken by a commissioner in the history of baseball or what? He says he wants to talk to Giambi about his comments concerning steroids and that if he doesn't cooperate, he may get suspended. Are you kidding??? There was no steroid policy in baseball when Giambi said he used some enhancers, but now Selig wants to grill him about it? Why? So that he looks like he's doing something? Until baseball hires someone to take charge like the NFL did with Goodell, it will be a rudderless ship sailing a random path. Just change that stupid all-star game decision already!

Answer 5

To me, it's the lack of competitive balance. I know that some small-market teams thrive each year, but for the most part it's the same big-market groups spending the money to win.

I'm not sure if the answer is a salary cap, a salary floor, a higher luxury tax, or which would work best. All I know is that they need to find a solution before fans in cities like Cincinnati, Pittsburgh or Kansas City give up on their teams. Watching your best players walk out the door year after year for greener pastures is not a good feeling.

Answer 6

I love how everybody wants there to be a salary cap for professional sports players, because they're millionaires, yet if these same people were told that there'd be a salary cap installed at their work they'd probably have a fit. Leave the players alone. Its supposed to be their fault that they take money that is offered to them? Would you do that? (No thanks, I don't want that extra million dollars, give it to somebody else.--yeah, right!)
The real problem is that there are only a couple owners willing to do just that. Don't blame Steinbrenner, Wilpon, Henry, etc. They played by the rules set forth, and now pay the extra price for wanting to put a winning team on the field.
The WORST thing in MLB are the owners who put their personal greed ahead of the team and fans. Blame the Pohlads, Lorias, Seligs & Glasses of the world. They are the problem. Not the guys who want to win.

Answer 7

Expansion has diluted the pool of competent general managers.

But seriously -- revenue disparity. There are several ways this could be addressed, but it's not about to happen. A salary cap does not solve problems, it just creates new ones while guaranteeing profits for the owners. Nothing wrong with profits, obviously, but they should be earned; guaranteed profit destroys competitive incentive. Want to have 24 Cubs-like teams? No thanks.

Answer 8

NFL, NHL< and NBA all have some form of Cap that not only requires teams to stay under a certain payroll, but also a cap bottom, requiring teams to keep competitive. MLB needs to adopt some form of this. I prefer the loose cap of the NBA, which allows intelligent teams from small markets (like San Antonio, Phoenix) to compete with large market teams. (Dallas, LA)

Answer 9

I agree with you 100% about the owners and Selig having no guts...... But what I see the most is a lack of love for the game of baseball by its own players....... I can't remember the last time I got excited about a rookie player...... Griffey Jr.???? Maybe Pudge???? I don't know....

Answer 10

A salary cap might help - the current luxury tax scheme is not the greatest - but it would be better to have NFL-style revenue sharing.