Trevor Bauer signed a $102 million dollar contract because Bauer is worth $40 million dollars a year…to the right team.
See, the reason that Bauer is worth more than 3 team’s entire projected opening day payroll is because the Dodgers want to win, while the Orioles, Pirates, and Indians do not. But why would the Orioles or the Pirates even want to win? Frankly, it’s not feasible.
The Orioles will be spending $38.9 million on their opening day roster, a miniscule number compared to the tower paychecks being handed out by the Dodgers (proj. $234 million), Yankees (proj. $189.9 million) or Angels (proj. $171.9 million). And all three of those teams have something in common that the Orioles do not…
They have the talent to win a championship.
We are being unrealistic when we demand that there be a salary base for the major leagues. 30 teams cannot compete for a title every season, and every year there will be some teams that continue to sit at the bottom of the standings while they work towards a rebuild. Even with a salary base, there will still be good teams competing for a championship, and teams that are rebuilding.
To ask the Orioles to spend money to compete for a title is unrealistic. With the Yankees and Rays as World Series hopefuls running the AL East, and an up-and-coming Toronto Blue Jays team poised to take reign of the baseball world in a few seasons, a rebuild is nearly all the Orioles can do. So why should we make Baltimore spend $90 million more dollars on a team that will finish near the bottom of the standings, salary base or not? If your team has no chance at competing for a playoff spot, those extra dollars that could be used for scouting, coaching, staff, or coronavirus expenses will now be wasted.
There also isn’t elite major league talent hiding in the minor leagues, ready to burst on the scenes if they didn’t play in a championship-level organization. And no single player from any minor league organization would even be enough talent to lift the Orioles close to the playoffs in a single season. The Orioles have major league players, just not playoff-level players, and forcing them to overpay those players to reach a salary base wouldn’t help the situation.
And for those arguing for a salary base, how would overpaying subpar major league players make the game better? There just aren’t enough elite players to field 30 playoff-ready teams. We need to accept that as a sport, or eliminate some franchises that can’t compete.
A salary cap, therefore might be better suited for the game, but even that shouldn’t be implemented.
A salary cap would even out talent to a degree, but would also lower the talent level of teams that reach the world series. Personally, I like seeing two great teams make the World Series, and I love when my non-baseball friends become interested in the games top players at the biggest stage. But if we want a slightly more competitive regular season, we better put a salary cap on the teams at the very top.
But what are we hoping for anyway, that putting salary restrictions on teams will help create a more competitive league? The Orioles and Pirates might win five more games under this format, and casual fans don’t tune into subpar MLB games anyway. Plus, why would an elite level player want to go play for a team that has no chance of competing?
We can add a salary cap or base and hope that the Orioles win a couple more games during the season, while most likely overpaying their already subpar major league players. Or we can keep it the same and accept the fact that some teams are ready to win championships, and others aren’t.
Congratulations Trevor, I hope you win a title.
This article was written by TK. To contact TK, email digitalzsports@gmail.com.