You don't understand that the problem is not in the "absolute price" but in the "relative price"
3 M for a 18yold rookie when a full trained top player is paid 10M means a thing,a rookie paid 3M when the same previous top player is paid 4M mean all another thing
The point is always the same:how much a player cost considering all the factors(age,height,potential,ecc...) compared to the overall market
The scale of the market is out of mind actually,because it's not that a top rookie worth as a medium level player,actually happens that a top rookie worth as a top player,that doesn't have seanse because in the better situation at the end the two players will have the same skills,but you could not create value with training during that time you spend to make your rookie a top player
The fact is for every $100k you spend on wages thats $1.4mil a season.... so buying a top rookie thats going to cost you $80k max in his first season and maybe $300k max in season 2 etc... actually works out to be a reasonable deal.
Is their a luxury tax - sure... but thats the fault of the current NT set up and the fact only a slender % of managers can be successful. If you only plan to reward 120 odd managers each season then the other 50,000 + have to find ways to amuse themselves.... buying a young stud is one of the more common ways to do it.