There were 9 teams that paid luxury tax last year. 6 made the playoffs. Those teams also tended to have the most attendance and revenue, which teams that underspent and fielded bad teams profited from. Teams that want to win aren't the problem. Teams like the Mariners, A's and Pirates are.
By the way, aren't the Phillies considered a large market team? What have they done in free agency? Is there something stopping them?
I think what the Dodgers are doing is not in the long-term interest of the league but you won't get any argument from me that what the Mariners, A's, and Pirates are much worse.
Agreed . Baseball needs a mandate in a few things. A true salary cap which will drastically help competitive balance. And teams must be at least 80-85% of their total cap space to ensure teams are spending money to attempt to field competitive teams top to bottom.
Deferred comp loop hole also needs to be shut down. It’s a joke.
Close the loopholes, mandate a cap and teams to spend 80% minimum of the total cap on player salaries.
You will see a pendulum swing of where each spring will have hope for a lot more fans of smaller market teams and teams with cheapskate ownership.
The game is flailing badly in popularity. This is an unsustainable business model in todays world and where the culture of sports entertainment has evolved to.
Oh and move the Marlins the heck outta here…..biggest scam I have ever seen. It’s amazing they won two World Series. 1997 was bought and 2003 was developed.
But ever since 2007 this franchise has been an absolute disgrace.