In the 1992 movie A League of Their Own, we learned that there is no crying in baseball.
Well, there's no parity in baseball, either.
Last year, the White Sox finished 41-121 — the fifth worst won-lost percentage since 1901.
In 2003, the Tigers needed five wins in their last six games to evade tying the modern record of 120 losses, established by the Mets in 1962 (the '62 Mets had two rained-out games that were never made up).
And this season, the Colorado Rockies are on pace to go 34-128 — which would murder the modern record set by the 1916 Athletics.
Since such records are becoming more frequent with each passing year, it is time for Rob Manfred & Co. to step in and do something about this.
And what is that "something?"
To establish a "wage floor" in baseball — just like the NFL has (the NFL compels the lowest-spending team to spend at least an 85% moving average of the salary cap, calculated over the four most recent years).
In 2025, the stingiest MLB team — the Marlins — are spending 20.9% as much as the team that is spending the most; i.e., the Mets.
While it is true that some cheapskate owners will probably sell their teams to avoid meeting this requirement (as Norman Braman did when he sold the NFL's Eagles to Jeffrey Lurie in 1994), there will plenty of takers to replace them (Elon Musk comes readily to mind). But the fans won't care, so long as they can be convinced that the new owners will be committed to winning.
In any event, the status quo is clearly unacceptable: On September 8, 9 and 10, the Dodgers will play a three-game series at home against the Rockies. The oddsmakers will have a lot of fun with those three games — which is a large part of why it is so unacceptable.
The "luxury tax" has not worked — and the large-market owners would never accept a salary cap.
Therefore, a wage floor is the only way to go.
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