For fans of teams other than the Dodgers, this past weekend seemed to be a turning point. Dodgers acquire Japanese talent Riki Saaki Taking into account restrictions on signing international players under the age of 25, Friday’s bonus was just $6.5MM. of residual value.
Then on Sunday, the Dodgers put an exclamation point on their weekend by signing the best reliever on the market, Tanner Scottbecoming the fifth-largest free agent contract ever for the position. Yes, Scott has a ton of deferred payments in his contract, but that’s a poll topic for another day.
We’ll be hearing from Sasaki soon, but one thing’s for sure, the Dodgers’ previous offseason’s terrible signings Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto Help lure him to Los Angeles. Since the end of the 2023 season, the club has also added Teoscar Hernandez (twice), Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnowand others in acting for Glasnow on the extension, Will Smithand trade pickup Tommy Edelman.
Buying an MLB dynasty isn’t easy. Others have tried, but the sport hasn’t seen back-to-back World Series titles since the Yankees’ three-peat from 1998-2000. Now, with 12 teams in the postseason, it may be even harder for the Dodgers to achieve that goal.
Most MLB teams don’t open their books to the public, so we don’t know how many clubs can turn a profit with the Dodgers’ current $370 payroll. It’s fair to assume that small market clubs can’t support this type of payroll, although some of them receive over $150MM annually between state revenue and revenue sharing.
Some might say that the sport is already in good shape when it comes to equality due to the nature of the MLB playoffs. But because the Dodgers bring in so much revenue (especially through TV deals), they have many advantages in acquiring players that the market cannot match. Maybe the Dodgers are not guaranteed to win consecutive championships, but they have won no less than 98 regular season games since 2018 (based on the epidemic season). Their wages are clearly part of their success.
Fans’ calls for a salary cap appear to be growing louder, at least on social media. It’s hard to argue: If all 30 teams were capped at around $200 each, the playing field would be significantly leveled during the regular season. The Dodgers, Mets and other big markets simply can’t sign star free agents. The salary cap will be tied to league revenue and raised accordingly. I don’t believe the salary cap (and floor) are only One way to improve parity, but this is the most obvious one.
MLB owners have long wanted to impose a salary cap. As you may recall, this was the reason for the strike in 1994 that cost us the World Series championship that year. The players did not give in to the demand, although they did allow the first luxury tax to be levied in subsequent years.
The thing about a salary cap is that it would almost certainly increase equality, but as the name suggests, it would also limit players’ earnings below what the free market would allow. The expectation is that the salary cap will reduce the total amount players make, although Commissioner Rob Manfred may argue that point. This is why MLB is not an unbiased source when it comes to talking about how a salary cap is needed to achieve competitive balance.
Baseball has always had the most powerful league in sports, and that’s almost entirely due to one man: Marvin Miller. Miller essentially created the MLBPA in 1966. He also called on players to go on strike or endure a lockout to ensure they continue to improve and not accept a salary cap or even a luxury tax.
Although the MLBPA has backed down since Miller retired, the sport still has no salary cap. Baseball had been able to avoid work stoppages since the ’94 strike until owners locked out players after the 2021 CBA expired in December. Although the negotiations often looked dangerous, a new five-year deal was finally agreed in March 2022 without losing any games. The two sides appear to be so divided that many observers are wondering whether we’re now going to have a shutdown every five years.
MLB formed an “Economic Reform Committee” following the recent turmoil over the CBA and television rights. The current CBA expires on December 1, 2026. Assuming the MLBPA has enough unity under Tony Clark and Bruce Meyer to match its legacy, the players may not cave and some or even all of the 2027 season could be canceled.
That leaves me with two questions for tonight’s poll. (I apologize for my lack of clarity in the original version of this poll: assuming there was a floor to the salary cap).
Then next question:
