Maverick Hiker

No offense (And I doubt you'll take any because I know most Oriole fans feel the same way) but the reason the Orioles can't compete is the incompetence of the front office. The orioles have a 93, that's NINE-THREE, million dollar pay roll this year. Money isn't their problem. A Salary Cap won't make the AL east more competitive when the front office is so inept. And I feel that goes for all of baseball, not just the AL east. The Yankees have a payroll more than twice that of the Orioles. The Red Sox payroll is 50% higher. I will agree the Orioles front office has been incompetent. Flanagan was a big disappointment to me, with some of the decisions he made. He wasted millions of Angelos' money on a bullpen "upgrade" last winter that ended up in a disaster. And now we are stuck with these huge contracts through 09 in some cases. Hopefully the new acting GM Andy MacPhail can do better. But the Orioles biggest problem isn't the front office. It is an unfair system which perpetually gives the Yankees and Red Sox an unfair advantage at the beginning of the year, due to their financial advantages. The Orioles could have an excellent front office, and they would still be at a disadvantage in the AL East. With their payroll advantages the Yankees will attract not only good players, but the cream of the crop in front office personnel, who will want to work with the stacked deck that the Yankees are dealt every year. It's like playing a game of Monopoly every year, and giving one player (the Yankees) twice as much money to start with, and another (the Red Sox) 50% more than you have. . Is it possible to beat the odds and win the game with so much less money to start? Perhaps once in a while, but not very often, and the player with the most money will come out on top most of the time. And the analogy becomes clear when you consider this will be the Yankees 13th consecutive year in the playoffs.

The cap won't keep teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, etc. from compiling talent. Those teams have other things going for them. Nor will a salary floor make the Pirates and Devil Rays adjust their intent towards winning ballgames. Granted, incentives NEED to be created for them to do so. If the cap was $120 million then the Yankees wouldn't be able to compile as much a talent as they do without the cap. I still think the floor is more important than the cap but I doubt the the players union will ever allow a floor so probably nothing will change. Starting to come around to your floor thoughts. That players union is pretty strong. But I believe you are wrong with your theory. I doubt very much they have a problem with a floor, it would mean better pay for the players. But they would have a problem with a cap, so that will never happen. I agree the MLBPA will have a big problem with a salary cap. But some things are worth fighting for, even if it means a strike. The present system is just totally unacceptable. As an Oriole fan, I see my team perpetually shut out of the playoffs in the AL East, with the Yankees buying their way in for the 13th consecutive year if they make it in 2007. And the Red Sox are right behind them in payroll. The AL East is absolutely the worst division in MLB to be in for Toronto, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay. Frankly I'd be willing to go without MLB for two years if there were a long strike, if the system was fixed so that all teams had a fair chance. So that no team would get a pass into the playoffs each year, as the Yankees now do. If the MLBPA gave a hoot about fair competition, they would not want the present system to continue.

Top 4 payroll teams: New York Yankees Boston Red Sox New York Mets Los Angeles Angels All heading to the playoffs if the season were to end now. Bottom 4 payroll teams Tampa Bay 26.5 games out of first Florida 19.5 Washington 17.5 Pittsburgh 10.5 Every one is hopelessly out of the playoff picture. Once again, MLB's final standings can be ascertained, at least to some degree, by merely looking at payroll figures before the season even starts. Professional wrestling has preordained results. MLB should not. At least not to the degree which now exists. And results should not be based upon payroll and revenue flow. This will be the 13th straight year the Yankees are in the playoffs. And the Marlins failure to make the playoffs this year was to a large degree preordained, and could have been forecast from their low payroll figures. The economic structure of football allows fair competition and the end results cannot be predicted by looking at payroll figures. Perhaps MLB could learn something from the NFL.

Wow 31 votes in such a short time, I wasn't expecting that. This issue is of some interest here I can see that. On previous polls I've run, I've been accused of making remarks when I posted the poll that influenced the results. So this time I forced myself not to make any remarks myself when posting the poll questions in order to get a fair sampling of what Marlins fans think.

Are you in favor of a mandatory salary cap/floor in MLB?