Dodgers’ Payroll Power vs. Brewers’ Grit: What MLB’s Financial Divide Means for the Future
One of the loudest conversations around Major League Baseball this past season didn’t come from the batter’s box or the bullpen-it came from the boardrooms and bargaining tables. As the 2025 season wound down and the postseason spotlight intensified, the debate over MLB’s financial structure-especially the widening payroll gap-took center stage. And with the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) set to expire next December, that conversation is only going to get louder.
At the heart of the tension is a familiar, polarizing question: Should MLB finally implement a salary cap?
It’s a topic that’s long divided ownership and players. Most owners-and Commissioner Rob Manfred-are leaning toward some form of cap to rein in the league’s top spenders.
But the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) isn’t exactly eager to accept any system that limits player earnings. That standoff is already casting a shadow over next offseason, with some insiders bracing for the possibility of another lockout if the two sides can’t find common ground.
The 2025 postseason only poured fuel on the fire.
In the National League Championship Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers-baseball’s biggest spenders-faced off against the Milwaukee Brewers, a team operating on one of the league’s leanest budgets. It was a David vs.
Goliath matchup in every sense, and not just on the field. Off the field, it became a referendum on the role of money in determining success in Major League Baseball.
The Brewers, who play in MLB’s smallest market, were back in the NLCS for just the third time in franchise history. Their opponent?
A Dodgers club loaded with superstars and backed by the most expensive roster in league history. The stakes were already sky-high, but the subtext made them even higher.
Could Milwaukee’s roster, built with precision and discipline, take down a team that could outspend most of the league combined?
Some argued that if the Brewers could pull off the upset, it would prove that payroll doesn’t dictate success-and weaken the argument for a salary cap. But that’s not how it played out.
The Dodgers swept the series in four games. Shohei Ohtani delivered a Game 4 performance that will be talked about for years. And after the final out, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t exactly downplay the moment, reportedly vowing to “ruin baseball” in a postgame speech that struck a nerve with fans and players alike.
Then came the kicker: the Dodgers’ luxury tax payment for the 2025 season is projected to be $169 million-more than the Brewers’ entire payroll, which came in at around $132 million, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Let that sink in. The Dodgers paid more in penalties for overspending than the Brewers spent on their full roster.
To put it in further perspective, the Seattle Mariners had the 15th-highest payroll in MLB this year at $167 million. That means half the league spent less on their teams than the Dodgers are shelling out just in luxury tax. It's a staggering figure, and for many, it’s a sign that something in the system is fundamentally broken.
And for Brewers fans, the pain runs deeper. This isn’t the first time Los Angeles has blocked Milwaukee’s path to the World Series.
It’s happened twice now in the past eight years. Despite consistently punching above their weight-reaching the postseason in seven of the last eight seasons-the Brewers continue to face a structural disadvantage that no amount of grit or savvy front office moves can fully erase.
That’s not to say the Brewers are making excuses. Manager Pat Murphy and his players believed they had the talent to win the series.
And they had reason to-Milwaukee beat the Dodgers six times during the regular season. But the postseason is a different beast.
And when you're going up against a club that can plug every roster hole with a nine-figure solution, the margin for error disappears.
What Milwaukee has accomplished in recent years is nothing short of remarkable. They’ve built a winning culture, leaned on sharp scouting and player development, and fostered a clubhouse mentality that thrives on the underdog role.
Murphy has embraced it. His players have lived it.
And in 2025, they delivered one of the best seasons in franchise history.
But the reality remains: competing at the highest level in Major League Baseball without the financial firepower of the sport’s elite is a constant uphill climb. And when your opponent’s luxury tax bill eclipses your entire payroll, it’s hard not to feel like the deck is stacked.
Other major sports leagues have found ways to balance competition through salary caps and revenue sharing. Baseball, for all its tradition and nuance, hasn’t quite figured that out yet. And as the league stares down another CBA negotiation, the divide between the haves and the have-nots is more glaring than ever.
The Dodgers may have swept the Brewers on the field, but the broader battle-between big money and small markets, between spending power and sustainability-is far from over. And as next winter’s labor talks loom, that battle could define the future of the sport.