The Dodgers have spent their way into the center of the MLB payroll debate, and former commissioner Bud Selig isn’t backing off the idea that the league needs a salary cap.
Los Angeles has built a modern powerhouse by going after top talent every offseason, a strategy that has produced three World Series rings since the 2020 season. But it has also pushed the rest of baseball to chase that level of spending, especially with no cap in place to slow the richest clubs down.
That tension is only going to grow with a lockout looming across MLB, one that could bring spending limits into the picture. The current CBA is set to expire on Dec. 1, and the financial structure of the sport could be headed for a major shift.
The latest postseason only added more fuel to the argument that money alone does not buy October success. The eventual champion Milwaukee Brewers swept the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series despite carrying the 12th lowest payroll in baseball, while Los Angeles had the second-highest payroll.
The Brewers then went on to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the Fall Classic, and Tampa Bay had the third-lowest payroll in MLB. The Rays reached the World Series after sweeping the New York Yankees, who owned the third-highest payroll in the sport.
Milwaukee closed the regular season with 103 wins, the best mark in the National League. Tampa Bay finished with 98 wins, tops in the American League.
Selig addressed the payroll discussion through The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner and said the Brewers’ title run should not be used as proof that a cap is unnecessary.
“Would you really make that conclusion after [the] 44 years it took to win?” he said of the Brewers' long drought.
“The Dodgers have spent money, like my favorite term: drunken sailor. I understand people can disagree, but I believe [a cap is] the right thing.
But that’s for another day.”
That day could arrive soon enough if the league’s next labor battle pushes salary restrictions further into the spotlight.
And if the Dodgers are the poster team for spending, the New York Mets were the cautionary tale. They led MLB in payroll last season at $346 million, yet finished 74-88, the sixth-worst record in the league. That worked out to about $4.7 million per win.
High spending does not guarantee a championship. But a salary cap, and maybe even a floor, would at least move baseball a little closer to balance.
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