Originally posted by MetalGod71
While there may be a few owners richer than Steinbrenner, I think maybe they just have common sense to not keep "raising the bar" on players salaries compared to Steinbrenner. This (pro sports) is kind of a sore subject with me. See, I don't care if an owner wants to pay an athlete all the money in the world. That's his business, and HIS money. Hell, if somebody wanted to pay me 25 million a year I'd jump on it. Where I have a problem is when these teams hold cities hostage to fund new stadiums and arenas to pay for it. The smaller market teams (such as Pittsburgh) must build stadiums and luxury boxes to keep pace. I don't like my tax money being stolen. If the team doesn't generate enough revenue to make payroll, then what gives the owner the right to go to city council and hold taxpayers hostage.
Unfortunately (for you), you're entirely incorrect here! There are more than a FEW owners who are wealthier than Steinbrenner. I don't have the full list, but more than half the other 29 teams have wealthier owner(s) than George. As I said before, he simply puts his profits - a piece of them - back into his team. He was smart & savvy enough to create his own network. No overhead, all profit. It's his. Hell, Pittsburgh is considered a small market team, but is their owner small market? I highly doubt it, not with a brand-new corporate stadium. And Oakland is small market, yet they manage year in and year out to compete and excel. Their payroll is barely over $40 million, which is pretty close to Pittsburgh. I apologize for not having the source handy, but I'm fairly certain I read that Steinbrenner is only the 16th or 17th "richest" owner. These other teams have no excuse. Finally, while George has always gone out and gotten what the Yankees need, sparing little to no expense, the Yanks have rarely, if ever, raised the bar in terms of salaries. It's always been the Dodgers, or Orioles, or White Sox, or Mets, or Rangers. Look at the huge salary jumps over the past 10-15 years. Not the Yankees. It's not George's fault that the other teams are poorly managed from the top down, and have depleted their farm systems. The Yankees have been winning forever, and that won't change because the man WANTS to win more than anything on Earth.
I think the point about Steinbrenner is that what he is doing is not good for the game. Realistically, there are maybe 4-6 teams that even have a shot at a world series title every year. That tends to hurt the sport of baseball. On the other hand, the salary cap in the NFL seems to promote parity among teams.
Again, I think I addressed this point above. You're right that realistically, there are only 8-10 (not 4-6) teams that have a shot, but again, it's their owners faults, not the talent level or the Yankees payroll. We didn't give A-Rod $25 million. We didn't pay $15 million just for the RIGHT to speak to Ichiro. We didn't have Kevin Brown $15.5 million 5 years ago. We didn't lure Mike Hampton from the Mets with money, money and more money. Hell, Giambi "only" gets $17 million, and there are at least 5 other players in baseball that have more lucrative contracts. People come to New York because they want to win, there are major endorsement opportunities, and the legacy of the franchise, NOT because George's pockets are the deepest.
IMO, the only true system that would work is a soft cap, like in the NBA. That way a team can pay whatever the heck it wants to KEEP its players, but has limited monies to go after big time free agents.
Don't want to be one of those comb-over guys
