MLB Has A Serious Salary Cap Problem

by Mark S and Wyatt W

Major League Baseball (MLB) has a concerned payroll divide between its wealthiest and smallest market teams. Without a salary cap, MLB allows teams to spend freely, leading to significant payroll disparities. 

This is shown by the Los Angeles Dodgers payroll for the 2025 season, According to Spotrac the Dodgers payroll is estimated at $353 million. This is shown as a 93-69 record as they compete for back-to-back World Series championships, while the Washington Nationals payroll is approximately $68 million. Their record reflects this with a 66-96 record, and they have finished at the bottom of their division three out of the last four years. This has raised concerns about competitive fairness and the long-term outlook on the league.

 “If the Dodgers win again this year, I'm not going to watch baseball anymore,” Elijah D, a MRHS student, stated, “It's ruining the thrill and the fun of baseball. If I know who's going to win it before it starts, why watch it?”

Many other leagues have implemented salary caps of their own. Four out of five of the “Big Five Leagues” (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS and MLB) have salary caps. A recent survey conducted by Royals Review reveals that a significant portion of MLB fans are concerned about the lack of a salary cap in the league. In response to these concerns, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged that some fans have expressed unease over the current team's wealth, particularly following the Dodgers' significant offseason spending.

For example, the MLS (Major League Soccer) implemented a salary cap in 1996, leading to better financial stability and more parity between teams, making it more challenging to get into the MLS Cup, while also limiting overall spending on player salaries and stifling the most ambitious clubs from buying their way into the MLS Cup every year. Although they have a salary cap, they use something called a “soft cap.” This means if a team wants to get a star player, they are allowed to spend more than a basic cap allows but are only allowed to do this once a year. MLS fans have different thoughts on this. “It hasn't worked in the MLS, but it has shown to work before,” MRHS Social Studies teacher and MLS fan Logan Janes emphasized. “I hope the MLB could implement a salary cap that works well for their league, but we'll see.”

According to Baseball America ,  only three World Series champions: the 2017 Astros, 2015 Royals and 2003 Marlins ranked in the bottom half of MLB in opening day payroll. Two of those teams (the 2017 Astros and the 2015 Royals) made midseason trades that put them in the top half of the payroll by the end of that season. In fact, twenty of the last twenty-four World Series champions have had a top five payroll since 2000, seventeen of those being in the top three and since the wild card era (1995) twenty-six out of twenty-nine teams have been ranked in the top 

Many small market teams and their fans argue that the current system makes it nearly impossible to compete consistently. Franchises like the Oakland Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates have struggled to keep up with clubs in larger markets such as New York or Los Angeles. Even when smaller teams draft or develop talented players, they often lose them in free agency to teams that can afford massive contracts. This cycle has fueled frustration among fans who feel the league's competitive balance is broken. 

Some owners, however, believe that introducing a strict salary cap could hurt the league’s overall financial growth. Teams in big markets argue that their higher spending helps attract more viewership, sell more merchandise and generate excitement around the sport. They also point to the luxury tax or “competitive balance tax” as a system already designed to discourage overspending. Still, critics say the tax has done little to prevent wealthier teams from dominating free agency and postseason play.

While many have argued for a salary cap, the MLBPA (Major League Baseball Players Association) have argued against it, most notably in 1995, which led to a lockout and a year without baseball due to the disagreement. Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper stood nose to nose with Rob Manfred during a meeting between the Major League Baseball commissioner and the team last week, in an interview from ESPN Harper said to "get the f--- out of our clubhouse" when asked if Manfred wanted to talk about the potential implementation of a salary cap.

Now the MLB salary cap has been a long and difficult issue for many years, and it looks like it could remain as such until something changes. This is a key topic of the 2026 Winter Meetings and will likely spark much debate within not only the baseball community but the sports community as well, but compromises from the MLBPA and the MLB could fix the growing problem with what many consider to be America's favorite pastime.