When the Bargaining Agreement ended on December 31, 1993, the owners reopened the contract for salary caps (Staudohar, 9). This did not sit well with the players for a couple of reasons. It forces the great players to sometimes not be paid as much as they are worth, and it trapped players on teams taking away their freedom to play for winning teams. As a result of these demands, the Players Association went on strike. The strike ended with an agreement for a luxury tax that would be placed on teams if they exceeded a predetermined yearly payroll budget (Staudohar, 9). Nonetheless the players won out, because the tax is barely a significant amount compared to the revenue brought in by the big market owners. Contracts for free agents have not shrunken but multiplied. For example recently Alex Rodriguez just signed a 10 year 252 million dollar contract with the Texas Rangers (Fisher, 28). Which sets a new standard that future contracts will have to match. .
The public, on the other hand are spilt on their views of the salary cap. Why would a fan of a big market team be mad if they keep winning, and are continually in the playoffs? On the other hand why would a fan of smaller market teams even support a continually losing team? Each argument has equal value. One side promotes less competition, while the other supports team dynasties like the Yankees and Braves. .
The view of the smaller market teams that baseball is leading to a monopoly with dominant forces squashing the competition. Bob Costas says, "Money is not just running the game, but whipping it: All eight teams that made the playoffs in 1999 had payrolls in the top ten of the majors" (Costas, 16). Which shows the fact that many teams often start opening day with little to no chance of making the post season. The Yankees won the last three World Series. In doing that the 2000 team picked up four new high priced free agents from last World Series, two of these were starters and perennial all-stars Jose Conseco and David Justice (Bradshaw).