Except the small differences make it difficult to rebuild through free agency and the draft. The intent was to curb spending by the big boys, but the unintended consequences have rewarded teams for not trying. The new CBA sort of rewards the status quo. It rewards being the best at judging talent. Enlighten me. It doesn't reward status quo, because status quo is the good rich teams will stay good because they can just overspend on the draft and internation signings in lieu of high draft picks. But that isn't possible anymore. So they will still be rich and good, but will not have that influx of young talent without the willingness to trade away their good older players. You can exploit this system by tanking and stockpiling all that young talent, but most organizations can't afford to screw over their fans for very long and most front offices won't have enough time to benefit from this plan. If you are a good front office that can draft and acquire talent without the help of a top 5 draft pick/allocation, you will be most rewarded. You will win games in the majors but still create maintain value in your system without the benefit of "cheating" (tanking or overspending).