Baseball doesn't have a cap, but there are major penalties in the form of luxury tax for spending over a certain amount on player payroll. and where does that money go? Half of it goes to to fund player benefits and individual player retirement accounts. Think of that: Because an owner was willing to pay some players "too much," he is forced to pay even more money into player benefits. The other half goes to other owners via revenue sharing. Steve Cohen was for a time willing to pay those penalties, but he's now trying to dig out of the deep hole he dug for himself, thanks to the luxury tax.
As for fans, they are never, ever considered in these matters. Coaches and players salaries keep climbing, the facilities arms race continues (which primarily benefits players and is paid for by fans), players have total freedom of movement with no restrictions, and the fans are left with no option but to continue paying the ever-increasing prices for tickets and concessions while watching helplessly as players come and go. Without fans, there would be no money in sports, but at both the professional and collegiate levels, they are largely ignored. Never even mentioned. And if they squawk even a little bit, they're called selfish.
