MLB Creates 'Economic Reform' Committee After Turbulent Offseason

The MLB offseason has been full of financial twists and turns.

Perhaps the most obvious being the runaway spending of a few specific owners. Steve Cohen of the New York Mets and Peter Seidler of the San Diego Padres have spent huge sums of money retaining talent and adding more to their teams.

In reaction, other owners have spoken out forcefully in defense of maintaining their exceptionally high profits at the expense of the on-field product.

READ: MLB OWNERS TRYING TO RAISE TAX TO STOP METS OWNER STEVE COHEN

But beyond the spending, another major issue has arisen in an even more important area. Television rights.

Diamond Sports Group, the owner of Bally Sports, has been circling around bankruptcy for the past several weeks.

READ: DIAMOND SPORTS BROADCASTING GROUP DECLARING BANKRUPTCY NEXT WEEK, IMPACTING MLB, NBA AND NHL

Bally Sports serves as the regional broadcasting partner for nearly half of MLB teams. That's raised significant questions about the funding sources for much of the league.

Now, to deal with these newfound questions, MLB has created an "economic reform" committee, according to The Athletic's Evan Drellich.

HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 29: Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. on the field prior to Game Two of the 2022 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies at Minute Maid Park on October 29, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

Small Market MLB Owners Take Over

According to the report, the ultimate goal of this committee may be to get to a salary cap.

Essentially, small market owners are demanding changes to reign in the top earning MLB teams.

“They demand everything’s got to change, and so the answer is to put a study committee together for labor,” the report reads. “The whole idea is to basically come up with a system that gets to a salary cap. … Rob didn’t lie by saying it has to do with the RSNs, dealing with the RSNs. Because these teams will lose more money and the disparity will get bigger. So they’re using that excuse to have a study committee.”

Salary caps however, would almost certainly be a non-starter for the players association. Not to mention incredibly tone deaf considering the Padres current spending habits.

San Diego plays in one of the smallest media markets in MLB. Yet they're currently in the top three in payroll across the league.

READ: SAN DIEGO PADRES SHOW BEING ‘SMALL MARKET’ IS AN OWNERSHIP CHOICE

If they're generating enough revenue to support a large payroll, many other "small" market areas could easily match their financial success. Invest in star players, bring in well known talent, and develop a consistently competitive team.

Or, impose a salary cap to bring more successful and aggressive clubs down.

There are any number of economic issues for this "reform" committee to discuss. But the business of baseball is overwhelmingly good. Regardless of how many owners routinely cry poor.