Major League Baseball (MLB) is by no means dead in the water. However, the game is still struggling in many regards. MLB has long since been dethroned by the National Football League (NFL) as America’s premiere sporting league. Some franchises still face economically insecure futures. Then there’s the whole steroids issue.

I am not a baseball executive, nor am I in any way familiar with the details of the collective bargaining agreement that governs the relationship between management and players.

In all honesty, I am just a simple fan with five ideas to help improve the game I grew up loving.

1. A real salary cap.

Right now, all baseball has a luxury tax. If you’ve paid any attention to the spending practices of the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, you know that it really hasn’t done much to deter the spending practices of large market teams.

For the 2005 season, the NFL’s salary cap is $88.5 million per team. The cap imposed by the NFL, which contains very few loopholes, is cited as one of the major factors behind the league’s incredible parity.

MLB could institute a cap somewhere around $70 million (14 of its 30 teams have salaries of that or higher). This would also include a floor of $45 million, meaning a team must dole out at least that much in salaries. Currently, only five teams’ payrolls fall below that threshold.

The goal of this would be to gain the same kind of parity the NFL has. Despite the recent headlines, competitive imbalance remains the greatest problem facing the game, not steroids.

But since we’re on that topic …

2. A steroids policy with some teeth.

Yes, the new policy is better than the old one, but there’s still a long way to go.

Recent suspensions, like the one to Tampa Bay outfielder Alex Sanchez, were for 10-days. In the course of a 162 game regular season, that’s a joke.

In the NFL, first time offenders are automatically suspended four games, which is a quarter of their season.

If you want to get a player’s attention, make a first time offense 35 games, without pay. I guarantee you a baseball player would sweat at the notion of taking Ginseng if those kinds of penalties were on the table.

3. The All-Star Game should not decide who gets home field advantage in the World Series.

As it stands right now, the team representing the league that wins the All-Star Game gets home field advantage in the World Series. This is absolutely ridiculous, possibly one of Commissioner Bud Selig’s worst ideas, and that man has had a lot of bad ones.

Just return the game to what it is meant to be. A very, very, good exhibition game. That’s at all it is. By no means should it play any role in determining the outcome of the World Series.

4. End inter-league play.

Selig’s reasoning behind the All-Star Game/World Series connection was that it added spice to the glorified exhibition game. Scrap inter-league play, and you get some spice back.

The All-Star Game was cheapened when it lost the luster of being the only event, outside of the World Series, where the American League and National League collided.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the concept of inter-league play when it debuted, but the gimmick has worn thin. Outside of natural match-ups like the A’s and the Giants, or the Cubs and the White Sox, most games really are just simple regular season games.

5. Expand the post-season.

Currently, four teams from each league advance to the playoffs. That number should be doubled.

Think of the revenue possibilities. MLB’s TV contracts would become more lucrative with an increased amount of postseason offerings. Teams would benefit from being able to sell playoff tickets, and with more teams in contention year in and year out, fan interest would increase.

On Sept, 30, the Toronto Blue Jays will host the Kansas City Royals for the beginning of a three game series. With both teams probably long eliminated from post season contention, the stadium will be half full at best.

But what if both teams were jockeying for position in the American League playoffs? Or what if the Blue Jays were in ninth place, only a game out?

Sounds like the recipe for a full house to me.