Major League Baseball is viewed by most Americans as a source of entertainment. Millions of people turn out during a regular season to see there favorite teams and players play a good game of baseball. However, few see the other side of this form of entertainment. Baseball is as much of a business as it is a source of recreation. Billions of dollars are invested in baseball and sometimes, millions are lost. The players and owners each have a responsibility to keep this business running good and to make sure no money is lost. To keep it running well, the owners and the players need to agree on things such as salary caps, free agency, taxes, and contraction. All of these things can help business run well and keep some teams from dominating the league and ruining this business.
             Baseball does not have any form of salary cap, although it does have a luxury tax on clubs that annually spend beyond a certain amount on salaries. The first discussion of the salary cap in baseball negotiations occurred in 1989-90 (Staudohar). The owners proposed a cap that would limit the amount of salary any team could pay to players. Those players with 6 years or more of experience could become free agents. However, they would not be signed by a team if doing so would put the team over the salary cap. Also, part of the owners' proposal was a guarantee to the players of 43 percent of revenue from ticket sales and broadcast contracts, which was about 82 percent of the owners' total revenue (Staudohar). The purpose of the proposed salary cap was to protect teams in small markets, like Milwaukee and Minnesota, from having their talented free agents bought up by big-market teams in New York and Los Angeles. In theory, teams in large cities would be unable to dominate the free agent market because the cap would limit the players they could sign. Also, because teams spend large sums in developing young players, a salary cap would allow them ...