The Los Angeles Dodgers are on track to pay at least $160 million in MLB league balance taxes by 2026. A total of ten teams will be billed nearly $500 million by 2026. And it’s only January 31st. There are still some big free agents available. We’ve talked about the salary cap, the minimum price and the overspending and the poor teams at the bottom. But there is one aspect we have not yet discussed. Where does all that money go?
Three and a half million dollars goes to player benefits. Then half of that money goes to baseball players’ IRAs. The other half goes to teams that have not exceeded the tax threshold. But where exactly does that money go?
It is placed in a non-public discretionary fund. It’s a slush fund for crappy teams. Reportedly, part of last year’s taxes went to reimburse teams affected by RSN’s bankruptcy and failure to pay television rights fees. But outside of that it’s a closed book. But one thing’s for sure: It’s going to teams that don’t fund their payroll, as well as the Dodgers, Mets and, to a lesser extent, the Braves.
So why do the Dodgers and other big spenders pay for bad baseball? And that’s exactly what happens. And if you subsidize something, you get more of it. Why are they keeping the Marlins, Pirates and Rockies afloat? It looks like corporate prosperity. Is that what we’re doing here? Is there anything else we can do here, like remove/replace the soft salary cap? Or save it and:
I’m sorry if I don’t shed any tears for the owners. But there are many charities that could be helped with that money. Major sports franchises cost money. If they can’t finance it properly, sell it to someone who can and let their fans benefit. The NFL’s Seattle Seahawks are going up for sale. It could sell for seven to eight billion dollars. So why wouldn’t anyone want to buy the smaller MLB teams if the current owners don’t want to compete?
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