I know a salary cap works for the NFL, but I don’t think MLB will ever get one through the MLBPA.
I think revenue sharing is the key. If every owner is pulling from the same pot, “small market” becomes much less of an issue. I mean, the Green Bay Packers are by far the smallest market in professional sports, and it’s not like they don’t make enough money to support a $200M payroll.
I also think there should be better regulation on what percentage of revenue is going to payroll. For the Brewers, it’s about 40%. But there are teams as high as 90% and teams as low as 20-30%. Why the disparity?
I’m not saying every team should be exactly the same, but there shouldn’t be such a wide range.
Finally, the deferral loopholes need to be closed. Either limit it or in some way regular it better, like charging part of the future deferrals to the present and charging the future inflation adjusted amount.