When the news of Shoehi Ohtani signing a monster deal worth nearly $700 million dollars hit the news cycle, fans around the sports world shared their frustration. Not with Ohtani cashing in, but with Major League Baseball.

MLB remains the lone professional sports league which does not have a salary cap, and there won’t be one implemented anytime soon. The MLBPA has a massive amount of control in negotiations with league owners, and there is no way they would ever hinder their players making as much money as possible. It wouldn’t be good for business.

Breaking News🚨🚨🚨Shohei Ohtani has signed a 10-year 700 million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers! Was this the right decision by Ohtani? pic.twitter.com/sGmwQipG8J

— Fans First Sports Network (@FansFirstSN) December 9, 2023

While the news of Ohtani’s deal still has ramifications across the sports world, it is worth noting a cap is not what baseball needs to make it more relevant. Instead, it needs a salary cap floor. In other words, a minimum all teams must spend every season.

Why does this matter? Easy, it prevents teams like the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, and Pittsburgh Pirates from continually electing to pay less and less, therefore putting forth a product which can’t possibly compete with some of the higher payroll teams in the league.

But why not a salary cap and floor, you ask? Well, the cap would never pass, as stated before when the MLBPA flexes its proverbial muscle, so why wouldn’t the Players Association also try to force league owners into at least pumping a minimal number of dollars into their franchise, thereby the players, on a yearly basis?

Let’s take a look at 2024 payroll projections across the league. Here are the bottom five teams, per Spotrac:

26. Milwaukee Brewers – $61,604,960

27. Cincinnati Reds – $59,913,333

28. Pittsburgh Pirates – $54,200,000

29. Baltimore Orioles – $42,881,668

30. Oakland Athletics – $38,615,000

When baseball “purists” look at the above list, they see teams like the Orioles who won the AFC East division in 2023, and with a well below average payroll. They say, “Look! They won the division with a low payroll!” These same individuals point out the Arizona Diamondbacks making it to the World Series in 2023 and say the same thing.

Shouldn’t this give hope for all of those teams whose owners choose to not go after the Ohtani’s of the world, and instead just hope for the best while saving money? I don’t think it does. And while baseball has a way of evening out the playing field, the product the league is putting on the field week-in and week-out is unbelievably sub-par.

Let’s look at the Pirates as an example. Their owner, Bob Nutting, is historically tight with his money. This isn’t a local secret. And when his frugal ways comes a fan base which has grown both weary and tired of the same old song and dance year after year. Young players are brought in, they stay with the Pirates for a time before being shipped away for “cash considerations” or future draft capital. It never equates in anything even resembling a winning product.

If baseball implemented a cap floor, it would force an owner like Nutting to put money into the team. If he doesn’t want to abide by the league policy, he can absolutely sell the team. In my opinion, this would be the best-case scenario for all involved. It wouldn’t hinder the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and even the New York Mets from getting out the checkbook and out-bidding their competition. At the same time, it would also have teams like the five bottom feeders listed above putting actual money back into their team for a competitive product.

The purists will say this is a waste of time, and teams should take up their issues with the owners of their respective teams. Most likely those fan bases have done so with no success whatsoever. However, if baseball ever wants to see a resurgence with the rapidly dwindling fan bases, parity is the best way of doing so. Leagues like the NBA and NFL have capitalized on this endeavor, and MLB could follow suit. Sadly, I don’t foresee this happening anytime soon, which means there won’t be any notable change within a broken league.