Yankees legend Mariano Rivera says he supports an MLB salary cap

Former New York Yankee and Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera said he believes Major League Baseball should adopt a salary cap in its next collective bargaining agreement. "Yes, there should be one, because it has to be fair to everybody," Rivera said during a Latinos in Sports event in Miami on Friday. "It makes the competition better." The MLB CBA expires at the end of this season, setting up negotiations between the league and its players. Talks are expected to begin in the coming weeks. It's notable for a player — even a retired one, like Rivera — to publicly support a salary cap. Rivera, himself, made about $170 million over his 19-year career, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Former New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. MLB is the only major U.S. league without a salary cap. The delta between teams that spend the most and those that spend the least has grown in recent years as the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Yankees, among others, continue to expand payroll. A record 11 teams opened the season with payrolls of at least $200 million, according to a USA Today analysis . Rivera said any salary cap should include provisions that the lowest spending teams also invest in improving competition in some other way. MLB currently has a revenue sharing program that distributes local media money equally to all 30 teams. "If I'm giving you money — from my pocket to you — to make the team better, I believe you should do that and not pocket it," Rivera said.