The MLB is one oldest professional sports league in the United States and Canada. It is a league steeped in history and traditions, separating itself from the other major leagues in the United States like the NHL, NFL and NBA. One of those differences is that the MLB does not have a salary cap.
The past few years have seen an increase in fans calling for the MLB to institute a salary cap, citing that the disparity between teams is starting to become too great. In fact, the MLB is looking to institute a cap once the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the MLBPA expires on Dec. 1, 2026.
The MLB push for a salary cap has been around for some time, specifically from small market teams that do not pull in the revenue that giants like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees do.
Yet now there are owners of big market teams calling for a salary cap, such as Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner. But why is that? Why would the MLB be pushing for a cap when the last time they pushed in 1994 it led to the World Series being canceled? Why would owners, and even fans, be willing to sacrifice the 2027 season if it means finally being able to institute a cap?
The source of all of this comes from the Dodgers, who have earned the ire of pretty much every baseball fan outside of Los Angeles. The Dodgers have won three World Series so far in the decade and have been top three in spending in four of the past five seasons.
Them winning, though, is not why fans have come to dislike the Dodgers, it has instead been their abuse of the economic system in the MLB. The first of these abuses was the signing of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani following the 2023 season.
The contract broke every single record in the book, as the Dodgers signed Ohtani to a $700 million, 10- year contract. This was, at the time, the largest professional contract in the history of sports. The team was then able to sign pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million deal. How could the Dodgers afford two massive contracts? Deferred cash.
Ohtani’s massive contract meant that he would be making $70 million per year. And while that $70 million does go down on the yearly payroll the team does not actually have to pay that. With the signing, Ohtani agreed to only take $2 million per year for the entire length of his 10-year contract. The Dodgers will then finish paying out his contract the following 10 years after.
This has freed up the Dodgers to improve their team even more, turning it into a juggernaut. And that deal paid off immediately with back-to-back World Series titles in Ohtani’s first two seasons with the team.
Many teams simply can not hope to match the Dodgers in terms of spending money, as they have control of both the lucrative LA market and the even more lucrative Japanese market thanks to the signings of Ohtani, Yamamoto and young star Rokai Sasaki.
Yet the signing that put true fear into the hearts of owners and angered fans was Juan Soto signing with the New York Mets.
Soto, coming off an incredible 2024 season with the Yankees, signed with the cross town rival Mets for 15-years and $765 million. This shattered the record Ohtani and the Dodgers had set just a year earlier.
Now with the fans shouting for parity, the owners have a chance to finally get a salary cap, but does a cap actually mean parity?
Over half the teams in the MLB have won a World Series since 2000 with 16 different teams having won the Fall Classic. That beats NHL (14), NFL (13) and NBA (12), all of which have salary caps. That has allowed for some absolutely electric series between teams.
Looking purely at this season, while the Dodgers, whose payroll for this year sits at $350,024,106, did win a second straight World Series, not every team that spent big won big.
The most obvious culprit of this is the Mets, who spent the second most in the league with $341,803,011, a good chunk being to pay for Juan Soto. Yet despite that they missed the playoffs entirely.
The Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels all missed the playoffs despite spending well over $200 million on their payroll. Conversely the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians made the playoffs despite being ranked 23 and 25 in payroll.
There were arguments around smaller markets not being able to compete, yet that was disproven this year as well. The Milwaukee Brewers spent just $121,018,720, which was 22 in league spending and made it to the NLCS, beating the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS who spent nearly $100 million more on their roster. Right now the call for a salary cap is so loud because of the Dodgers, they have played the system their way and have benefited from it, just like the Los Angeles Rams did in 2021 to win their Super Bowl.
This is nothing but a dynasty, something that comes around every now and then in sports. It will, like all dynasties, pass. Other teams will eventually come to take their spot. There is no need to rush things to fix a problem that really does not exist.