Uneven Playing Field: Is No Salary Cap Ruining Baseball?
November 4, 2025 - Written by Cruz Cambero
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is pushing for a salary cap, per @EvanDrellich
— MLB Deadline News (@MLBDeadlineNews) July 10, 2025
MLB’s current labor deal expires December 2026 and Drellich notes that players are skeptical of adding a cap. pic.twitter.com/NAYX2suyNn
After the Los Angeles Dodgers won back-to-back World Series titles, major talks began about a potential MLB lockout in 2027. The main reason? There’s no salary cap in baseball. Teams are free to sign whomever they want for however much they want, with little to no repercussions.
The Dodgers currently lead all teams in payroll, outspending the second-place New York Mets by over $30 million. Even the Toronto Blue Jays, who ranked fourth in payroll, spent nearly $50 million less than the Dodgers. As of now—before free agency even begins—fourteen teams have payrolls over $100 million, while the other teams can’t come close to matching the big spenders.
Now, the opposition—especially uneducated Dodger fans—might argue, “We’re not ruining baseball. Every team can spend money if they want to.” I personally think that’s ridiculous. Yes, there’s no salary cap, and technically, teams can spend as they please, but not every team operates in the same financial market. That’s the key difference.
Take a look at MLB’s social media presence. Even before the playoffs began, the most featured teams were the Dodgers and Yankees—two massive markets that are easy to promote. Yet neither team finished first in their respective leagues. That honor went to the Brewers and Blue Jays, teams that most casual fans barely recognize outside a few star players.
Just look at the Fox coverage during the World Series: they rarely gave credit to the Blue Jays. There was little to no enthusiasm after Trey Yesavage’s historic start. One of the commentators, Joe Davis, regularly calls Dodgers games, which only highlights the bias toward big-market teams.
And it’s not as if a salary cap doesn’t work in other sports. In the NBA, for instance, last year’s Finals featured two small-market teams—Indiana and Oklahoma City—who battled through a thrilling seven-game series. Critics might argue that the Golden State Warriors built a dynasty by signing Kevin Durant, and while that’s true, their core trio—Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green—were drafted and developed by the team. Even after signing Durant, the Warriors still operated within the league’s salary cap like everyone else. If that comparison doesn’t convince you, take the NFL. Two mid-market teams, Kansas City and Philadelphia, faced off in last year’s Super Bowl. Both rosters were largely built through the draft, with only a few major free-agent additions, and both teams remained under the salary cap.
Now, compare that to the Dodgers. Only two of their nine starting position players made their major league debuts with Los Angeles. One of them, Miguel Rojas, was traded away years ago and only returned after the Dodgers bought him back from the Marlins. As for their pitching staff, none of the four primary starters in the World Series were developed in the Dodgers’ system. In fact, their third and fourth starters, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, would be aces on most other teams. How is any home-grown team supposed to compete with that?
I propose that the MLB needs a salary cap to save baseball. It makes the games more competitive and allows more teams to be in the hunt. But there also needs to be a penalty for cheap owners, so I impose a salary floor so that cheap owners like the Pittsburgh Pirates, for example, do not hurt their teams just because they don't want to spend; it works both ways.
Baseball has always been called America’s pastime, but right now, it’s becoming a game of money over merit. Without a salary cap, only the wealthiest teams will continue to dominate headlines, free agency, and championships, while smaller-market clubs are left with no realistic shot at success. If Major League Baseball truly wants to preserve fairness and competition, a salary cap—and floor—must be introduced. It’s not about punishing teams for spending; it’s about giving every fanbase hope that their team can win it all. Until that happens, baseball will keep rewarding the richest instead of the best.
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