A massive lockout looms as teams save $75 million each to prepare to cancel games.
In case there were any remaining doubts as to what Major League Baseball owners intend to do after the season in order to make more profits, this should end those.
The collective bargaining agreement between the league’s owners and the MLB Players Association expires in December, and negotiations are expected to be contentious. After the Los Angeles Dodgers’ postseason success and spending spree, opposing fans have rallied behind adding a salary cap to professional baseball. And owners have seized on it.
While a salary cap wouldn’t solve the league’s nonexistent competitive balance issues, nor make tickets or concessions cheaper, it would make fans feel better about the perception of the sport. As a result, most of the league’s owners have realized they have a tremendous opportunity to push for a salary cap with public support behind them. Outside New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, the Dodgers’ ownership group, and a handful of others, cheaper teams like the Pirates, Twins, Marlins, or Rays could benefit tremendously from limiting players’ earning potential.
A new report from Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post broke yesterday, demonstrating the lengths those owners are willing to go to in order to increase franchise values and save money.
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen. (Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images)
MLB Owners Setting Aside Billions For Lockout
Heyman and Sherman reported that the 30 team owners have saved roughly $75 million each to prepare for the possibility of canceling games in the 2027 regular season. $75 million for 30 teams is over $2 billion.
With few exceptions, the owners are nearly “unanimous” in their desire to add a salary cap. Why? Because by limiting the number owners can spend, the value of their franchises grows tremendously. Some owners have viewed the NFL’s franchise valuations as a target to reach, ignoring that the NFL’s explosion in valuation has nothing to do with the salary cap and everything to do with the rise of sports betting/gambling and inherent television and scheduling advantages.
But this might be their best opportunity to finally get a cap, thanks to the widespread support they now have from fans to push for it.
Yes, the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets have significant advantages that allow them to spend more on expensive free agents. No, that does not mean a salary cap would stop those teams from having financial advantages or signing top talent. The introduction of a cap would necessitate the introduction of a floor as well. And unless teams like the Pirates or Rays are suddenly willing to spend $200 million+ on salaries, there will continue to be a gigantic gap in payrolls between wealthier and less wealthy teams.
And the fact that those teams have been able to save $75 million each undermines much of their arguments about not being able to pay higher salaries. If they could save $75 million to lose games, how much were they not spending on players?
The MLBPA is likely saving money too, to prepare for a potential lockout, but it’s still an indication of how committed the league is to lowering salaries. As Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman explained in a recent interview, the fan perspective makes little sense. Why root for billionaires to “pocket more money,” how does that benefit anyone but those owners? A question nobody has an answer to.
