By Darren Rovell, CNBC
Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio caused quite a stir when he told Bloomberg that the league "may need to impose a salary cap to preserve competition."
After the New York Yankees signed C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira this offseason, Attanasio said that he wasn't sure anyone could compete with them.
I understand that Mr. Attanasio might be frustrated by the fact that he doesn't think he can sign the players the Yankees have signed, but he's really misguided if he's going to try to use the competitive angle.
The last time I looked at the record books, the New York Yankees had what was always classified as outrageous payrolls and my "research" has confirmed that the Yankees haven't won a championship since 2000.
Readers of this blog know I define parity as the number of the teams that have won the championship over a certain period of time. Do I have to run the 15-year list again for Attanasio? As you can see, there's no relation here between salary caps and competitive balance. Over the last 15 years, baseball has more winners than two "capped" sports and only one fewer winner than the hardest of the capped sports.
(FYI: The NHL, NFL and NBA all have salary caps.)
Here's the list.
NFL (11 winners): Giants, Colts, Steelers, Patriots, Buccaneers, Ravens, Rams, Broncos, Packers, Cowboys and 49ers.
MLB (10 winners): Phillies, Red Sox, Cardinals, Marlins, Angels, White Sox, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Braves and Blue Jays.
NHL (9 winners): Red Wings, Ducks, Hurricanes, Lightning, Devils, Avalanche, Stars, Rangers and Canadiens.
NBA (7 winners): Celtics, Spurs, Heat, Pistons, Lakers, Bulls and Rockets.
The Yankees can make more mistakes with their money, but the idea that it somehow guarantees them a championship is completely ridiculous.
