Many MLB teams, owners, and fans have been irked by the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ massive spending over the last two years:
- Signing three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract ($680 million deferred)
- Signing pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million contract
- Signing two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million deal
- Signing All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernandez to a three-year, $66 million contract
- Signing left-handed reliever Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72 million contract
- Signing pitcher Tyler Glasnow to a five-year, $136.5 million contract extension
- Signing catcher Will Smith to a 10-year, $140 million contract extension
- Winning the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes with a $6.5 million minor-league contract
With the Dodgers assembling their own version of “The Avengers” and coming off a World Series championship, critics are pointing to the franchise’s alleged manipulation of contracts through deferred money.
This issue could come to a head in next year’s collective bargaining agreement negotiations.
Baseball lockout could be on horizon after 2026 season
According to ESPN’s MLB insider Jeff Passan, some MLB owners are ready for Commissioner Rob Manfred to lock players out following the 2026 season.
“The rekindling of a cap conversation has already begun — particularly by owners peeved by the Dodgers’ spending and the sheer size of Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765 million, no-deferred-money deal with the New York Mets. Proposing a cap in next year’s CBA negotiations would be tantamount to a declaration of war by MLB — and already those owners are prepared for commissioner Rob Manfred to lock the players out Dec. 1, 2026,” Passan reports.
Baseball’s most recent lockout occurred after the 2021 season, lasting from Dec. 2, 2021, to March 10, 2022. While Opening Day was delayed, no regular-season games were cancelled. The sport’s most significant work stoppage came in 1994 when players went on strike in August, leading to the cancellation of the World Series. That strike lasted 232 days, extending into April 1995.
A salary cap in baseball has always been a non-starter with the MLB Players Association. While there are luxury tax implications, qualifying offers with compensatory draft picks attached, and draft-pick penalties, teams like the Dodgers, Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies aren’t deterred from signing high-profile free agents.
Essentially, every billionaire owner could sign an Ohtani to a $700 million deal or a Soto to a $765 million contract. They just choose not to, prioritizing profits or breaking even over fielding consistently competitive teams.
Over the last ten seasons, there have been eight different champions, with the Dodgers and Houston Astros each winning two during that span. The last team to win consecutive World Series was the 1999-2000 New York Yankees. In fact, since 2000, the teams with baseball’s highest payroll won the championship just four times.
Passan concludes the issue simply: “The greatest drug of sports fandom is belief, and right now, belief in baseball is waning. October has always been the great equalizer, a time when hot teams regularly beat more talented teams. If that happens to the Dodgers in 2025, the schadenfreude will be strong enough to part the Red Sea. Should the Dodgers become repeat champions, though, the chorus will grow louder and the distrust deeper. The stress test has arrived, and for all of the game’s resiliency, baseball’s future depends on its ability to navigate a situation of its own making.”