Why the Rays are smarter than Yankees and Red Sox

Capitalism in Baseball Creates Underdogs

The Rays have roughly 25% of the payroll of their division rivals. In fact, the Yankees and Red Sox have a payroll number that rivals the Rays’ gross revenue.

The Rays shouldn’t be able to compete with these monsters. This is what makes baseball so queer and yet so intriguing. The NFL and the NBA have salary caps, every team spends the same amount of money, regardless of the market. It creates true underdogs. Personally, I like the capitalistic nature of the League. The Yankees and Red Sox are pillars of the league and they bring in so much revenue they deserve to spend what they feel is necessary to please their fans. Afterall, their fans are the ones doling out the cash.

This system also creates true underdog stories. The only time you have underdogs in the NFL is when a team is just not as good as the other. Financially, they are on the same playing field. The NBA relies on who has the most talented friends. Major League Baseball is a truly entrepreneurial endeavor.

Why a Salary Cap is Unfair

The average Major League payroll sits at $137 million. Let’s say the MLB implemented a salary cap in that area. That’s not fair to the Yankees or their fans. It isn’t fair to the Red Sox or their fans. There would have to be an endorsement to the revenue-sharing model to make something like that work. $137 million would more than double the Rays’ payroll from last year. To make it worse, the Yankees and Red Sox would be financing it.

The Yankees and the Red Sox deserve their exorbitant payrolls, they earned them. No, the Rays don’t deserve a bigger payroll unless they earn it. The thing that really makes this all so interesting is that the Rays don’t need it.

While I may be coming from a slightly envious standpoint, there sure are some hilarious contracts coming out of New York and Boston.

Let’s take a look at mistakes that the Rays are too smart to make, and the Red Sox and Yankees can afford to make.