Major League Baseball’s 30 owners and commissioner Rob Manfred are having some scheduled meetings in Florida this week. One item on the agenda was approving John Seidler as the Padres’ control person, which MLBTR covered earlier. There are plenty of other issues going on around baseball, which Manfred discussed with Evan Drellich of The Athletic and Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
This winter has seen a lot of talk around the overlapping issues of competitive balance, a salary cap and player retention. Most of that talk is related to the Dodgers. That club spent heavily last winter on star players, including Shohei Ohtani, then went on to win the 2024 World Series. They followed that up by adding even more star power this winter, signing Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki and others. In the wake of the Sasaki signing, MLBTR polled its readers about a salary cap with roughly two thirds of the votes being in favor.
“No,” Manfred said, when asked if the Dodgers are ruining baseball. “I don’t agree with that. The Dodgers are a really well-run, successful organization. Everything that they do and have done is consistent with our rules. They’re trying to give their fans the best possible product.” However, he did make it clear he’s aware of the frustration coming from other fanbases. “I recognize, however, and my email certainly reflects it: There are fans in other markets who are concerned about their teams’ ability to compete, and we always have to be concerned when our fans are concerned about something. But pinning it on the Dodgers, not in that camp.”
As mentioned, the idea of competitive balance or parity has come up a lot in baseball circles lately. Those who believe baseball doesn’t have a parity problem will point to the fact that baseball has been fairly dynasty-proof lately. No club has won consecutive World Series since the 1998-2000 Yankees. The Dodgers, for all their might in the regular season, just won a title in a full season for the first time since 1988. Smaller clubs like the Rays, Guardians and Brewers have stayed steadily competitive in recent years.
There are various counter arguments. Per Shaikin, it was discussed at the owners’ meetings that only two clubs outside the top ten markets have managed to win a World Series in the past 20 years: the Cardinals and the Royals. The inability for lesser-spending clubs to retain star players is also a frequent bone of contention in certain fanbases. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who formerly had the same job with the Brewers, addressed that issue with Mike Mazzeo of Sports Business Journal, vaguely supporting measures to improve player retention without specifics. That was another issue Manfred touched on today.
“Continuity in terms of players in particular markets is an issue that’s relevant to the marketing game,” he said. “Obviously, fans get attached to players, and that’s a great thing. We love that. That’s part of fandom, it’s a good part of fandom. We always try to keep the desire for player continuity in our minds when we’re talking about building a system. By the same token, I’m kind of a free market guy — players at some point in their careers, have to have a right to — I mean they have to — have a right to decide where they want to play.”
The hope of salary cap proponents is that it would help in many of these areas, the idea being that reining in clubs like the Dodgers would increase the chances of smaller clubs keeping fan favorites, as well as helping their prospects of winning on the field.
Getting a salary cap in place, however, would be another matter. It would have to be collectively bargained with the MLB Players Association and the union has long been opposed to a salary cap. The owners made a serious attempt to get a salary cap in place 30 years ago, which led to the 1994-95 strike, during which there was no World Series played for the ’94 season.
In a separate piece at The Athletic, Drellich writes that the owners have been discussing whether or not to push for a salary cap. The current collective bargaining agreement runs until December of 2026, so a cap could potentially come up in negotiations going into the 2027 season.
Whether the owners will be intent on pushing for a cap is a big unknown. Different clubs will naturally have different priorities for CBA talks, depending on their respective financial situations. A club like the Dodgers will be less interested in a salary cap than some of the lower-spending clubs. Drellich reports that the “opinions among owners are mixed.”
Last month, Dodgers president Stan Kasten and Orioles owner David Rubenstein gave different opinions of baseball’s economic landscape. Kasten opined that the Dodgers’ spending is good for baseball while Rubenstein voiced support for a cap. Manfred admitted today that the cap is not the only way to address baseball issues. “I am a huge believer in the idea that there are always multiple solutions to a particular set of concerns,” he said.
The position of the players is more clear. As mentioned, they have long been opposed to a cap, as it would have a negative effect on players’ earning power. Tony Clark, executive director of the MLBPA, attempted to shift the focus to the other end of the spending spectrum. “The league, and the owners it represents, have been predicting doom for decades to justify more restrictions on salaries,” Clark said, “but the game is healthier than it’s ever been. The real question is: Why aren’t all teams, across all markets, using the resources we know they have to put their best foot forward in an effort to be the last team standing?”
Discussions of salary caps often lead to discussions of salary floors, since there are several clubs that are not aggressive at all in terms of spending on players, compared to the Dodgers. The Pirates, for instance, haven’t given a multi-year deal to a free agent in almost a decade. Their three-year deal for Iván Nova in December of 2016 was their most recent such pact.
Overall, the league is indeed healthy, as Clark alluded to. Since the introduction of the pitch clock, MLB itself has flaunted the increases in fan attendance and TV ratings. Last month, Maury Brown of Forbes reported that league revenues hit $12.1 billion in 2024, a record high. That doesn’t even include “ancillary revenues attached to the clubs such as mixed-use development in and around ballparks, such as The Battery around Truist Park, home to the Atlanta Braves, club-owned RSNs, or companies such as Legends Hospitality, which is co-owned by the Yankees.”
That league-wide economic health naturally benefits some clubs more than others, particularly when it comes to broadcast revenue. Certain popular clubs such as the Dodgers, Cubs and Yankees have at least partial ownership of their respective regional sports networks (RSNs). Smaller clubs like the Padres, Diamondbacks, Guardians and Twins have had their RSN deals collapse and now have the league handling things, a model that is widely believed to bring in significantly less revenue.
Per Drellich, changing the revenue sharing model is another point of discussion among owners. There are currently 14 clubs* that receive revenue-sharing but the owners could always agree to increase how much money is flowing downhill. Mark Walter, controlling owner of the Dodgers, gave his perspective on that matter to Shaikin. “I don’t think we’re there,” he said. “We’re probably trying to find something that’s in the best interest of everybody.”
Uncertainties in the broadcast model will also have to be a consideration for the owners as they weigh the pros and cons of pushing for a cap. Even if something like a year-long lockout could hypothetically get the players to agree to such a thing, there would likely be significant negative consequences for the league-wide health that was referenced earlier. Broadcast ratings and attendance would surely drop after such a stoppage, as they did after the 1994-95 strike. It has been reported that 2028 will be a big year for the league, as they look to market a large package or packages of games to various broadcasters and/or streamers. A lengthy period of canceled games would likely be hurting the overall attractiveness of the product just before that pivotal moment.
Manfred has said in the past that he is proud of the relative labor peace of his tenure, with no games having been lost due to a strike or lockout. He is not planning to seek another term as commissioner and is therefore slated to be gone by January of 2029. Unless that changes, he would have to be willing to change that track record on his way out the door in order to lead the owners through a significant stoppage.
There are many moving parts and various different ways of looking at all these issues. Players and owners will often have opposing viewpoints. Large-market clubs and smaller clubs will have different priorities, as will star players compared to fringe players. Baseball fans will be sprinkled all over those different camps to varying degrees.
Many in the baseball world believe another lockout is inevitable. The 2021-22 lockout lasted from December to March of that offseason, though the two sides eventually got a deal done just in time to avoid losing games. Given the apparent strife between the owners and players, many believe that a lockout will become rote with future negotiations. That’s a sentiment that Manfred seems to share.
“In a bizarre way, it’s actually a positive,” Manfred said to The Athletic last month. “There is leverage associated with an offseason lockout and the process of collective bargaining under the [National Labor Relations Act] works based on leverage. The great thing about offseason lockouts is the leverage that exists gets applied between the bargaining parties.”
The union sees it differently. “Players know from first-hand experience that a lockout is neither routine nor positive,” Clark said. “It’s a weapon, plain and simple, implemented to pressure players and their families by taking away a player’s ability to work.”
The two sides could always start talks well in advance of the end of the current CBA, though Manfred downplayed the possibility. “I’m one that likes to bargain early, but we’re still two years away, even if you’re thinking you want to bargain early,” Manfred said. “We got time on that front. And I think the time is particularly important right now, because we do have things going on in terms of the economics of the game — local media being the principal one — that the longer we wait, the more it evolves, the better decisions we’re going to make.”
Drellich also relayed another formality of this week’s meetings, noting that Athletics owner John Fisher and Mets owner Steve Cohen have been added to the owners’ executive council. Those two replace John Middleton of the Phillies and John Sherman of the Royals. The six continuing members of the eight-member council are Paul Dolan of the Guardians, John Henry of the Red Sox, Greg Johnson of the Giants, Ken Kendrick of the Diamondbacks, Arte Moreno of the Angels and Bruce Sherman of the Marlins.
* (Diamondbacks, Rockies, Reds, Brewers, Pirates, Marlins, Athletics, Mariners, Tigers, Royals, Twins, Guardians, Orioles, Rays)
The fact you have to keep posting things like this says otherwise.
Honestly, how would this dope (Manfred) even know if the Dodgers are ruining baseball?
His check didn’t bounce.
Everything is A-ok!
I’ve said it before. Implement rules that favor teams keeping their own talent as long as they remain on that team for the full season. Reward teams by only counting 50% of the salary against the taxes on deals 5 years or more. Even if the team can’t afford to keep him, a benefit like that will certainly increase his trade value as teams will compete to get that edge when the player gets to free agency.
Buck – Manfred has access to MLB financials, that’s how he’d know.
Again, fans have a skewed perception of what constitutes success and what constitutes failure.
As long as baseball continues to generate record-setting revenue and profits, and team valuations continue to skyrocket, owners will view MLB as being successfully run.
And as long as player salaries continue to soar, players will view MLB as being successfully run.
He definitely knows that the Dodgers are not the ones ruining baseball because he’s the one that’s ruining baseball
Dodgers content means more traffic for MLBTr
The one time I will agree with him.
Owners like the Seidler Bros are ruining baseball.
I give them a temporary pass. They made a big push. Courts complicate stuff. I get it.
I’m excited that Dodger fans will be in charge of the Padres. I’m just kidding the late owner was also a Dodger fan but that all changes when you’re in charge of another organization.
They added Cohen and Fisher to the Executive Council. That worries me more than anything that the Dodgers have done.
MLB – They do have a fair mixture of representation on the council. There’s the two small market team owners (Athletics and Marlins) that offset the two large market team owners (Mets and Red Sox), and actually John Henry has been running the Red Sox like a small market team for the past 5 years.
The Red Sox have not been spending like a small market team. They have been spending around the luxury tax threshold every year and went over in 2022.
Same day Ippei is sentenced to 57 months.
Phew thats good news.
Hahaha exactly!…perfect comment lol
He’s wrong
When has he ever been right?
Sure but, if they were, would he say so?
No Manfred, you are.
Can’t wait until he retires getting changes of baseball from him is like trying to pull teeth
I’m surprised he even said the word dodgers, I thought he would’ve “dodged” the question by acting like there is no problem in the first place
If it takes forever for bonds and McGwire to get disciplined for steroids, it will take forever for a salary system change
sad – What about the subject touched upon in the article regarding player continuity?
People complain about teams like the Rays who behave like a minor league farm system by getting rid of quality players before they are due for free agent salaries. Who is forcing them to do so? Glasnow and Snell are on the Dodgers because the Rays refused to give them the salaries they deserved and instead chose to trade them.
Why do so many not understand this constant dumping of star players is a big reason why Rays attendance is so low.
Let’s hold the right owners accountable, the greedy ones who care more about profits than winning.
I can’t imagine the Rays owners are rolling in money.
his job is for LIFE. his retirement will be along time from now.
dpsmith – He’s already announced he is retiring in less than 4 years, when his term ends.
He’s not a judge.
Manfred will ruin baseball. He needs no help
The Dodgers aren’t ruining baseball any more than Manfred is…
So they are equally ruining it together? That makes sense actually.
No. You’re ruining baseball, Manfred.
I don’t wanna go here but I guess I’ll keep it short and sweet.
You can name the game but you must play by the rules.
If baseball isn’t ready to tackle that problem who’s to argue against Friedman today. The man’s a savant. Not a super villain.
Yes. He’s inspirational
Yeah, let’s listen to Manfred.
of course he says that….he’s on their secret payroll. probably been to a Diddy party, too
LMAO
*popcorn popping sounds*
I don’t believe they are “ruining” baseball, however, I don’t think it’s healthy in the long term for MLB clubs to have such huge disparities in spending to the point a few large market teams can essentially buy their way into the postseason year after year. That said, I think MLB must find a way to more evenly balance team’s spending throughout the league. The Pirates and A’s, for example, are just as much a part of the problem as the Dodgers and Mets.
I completely agree with that, so Instead of a a cap, we at least need a floor so high spending teams can still spend big, but lower spending teams can atleast spend enough to attempt to contend. No more sitting on your hands when talent is still out there that’s able to help your team more than before. No reason players like pivetta, heany, Gibson, etc. Should still be available. They aren’t stars, but they are all capable of helping any team compete.
we need both. a floor alone will do nothing.
There’s already a sort of cap with the CBT, but there’s nothing comparable on the low end aside from the vague threat of the MLBPA filing a grievance.
I’m in favor of increased revenue sharing. Let the owners solve their problems, don’t put it on the players.
I laughed out loud at the headline alone.
Got buried today but the owners elevated John Fisher to their executive committee. What the hell?
Talk about ruining baseball
The other owners must respect the profit numbers he makes
They also elevated Steve Cohen to even it out.
@letsgooakland123
Thank goodness John Fisher got that team out of Jokeland. Now they can be a good team again and heal from that terrible experiment.
May not be ruining it for Manfred, but they are ruining it for many fans who will soon stop watching. Baseball is already falling behind NFL and NBA. If it keeps going, it will fall behind NHL.
Expanding the Japanese market at the expense of the American markets only favors 1 team
Ticket sales are up, advertising is up, sponsorship is up. Across the board. You might not be happy but that doesn’t contradict the state of the game
Says the guy who is ruining baseball.
Very stupid statement!
It’s not the Dodgers its 29 other owners who are cheep and don’t want to spend money on players but wonder why they don’t win Dodgers showing they are doing what ever it takes to win and make their fans happy.
This argument has been thoroughly debunked. Other teams can absolutely not spend like the Dodgers.
C-Daddy,
They can’t spend like the Dodgers, but they could spend more and make a greater effort to win.
Do you really think every owner in baseball doesn’t spend but the Dodgers?
The player’s union is killing baseball. Manfred is a puppet for his employer, the owners.
How, exactly, is the players union ruining baseball? I’m assuming you’re belief is that players should have their earning potential suppressed by agreeing to a cap, which has been proven to fail to create this mythical parity some people seem to believe it will bring.
A player has a right to get every last cent they can. If those coins all come from the Dodgers, so be it. I’m not a Dodgers fan, but good for them for doing what every team should be striving to do.
If a team has poor ownership, a cap won’t fix it.
If a market is “small”, it’s usually because it isn’t in a destination city, and a cap doesn’t fix it.
Most teams that “can’t” compete are in the former category, not the latter. And if a market really is “too small”, it probably shouldn’t have a team.
So what, you’re in favor of retracting the league to 8 or so teams?
Because, reality is, there’s a handful of teams that have VASTLY larger resources to leverage to attract players, be it direct financial income, or, endorsement potential they can market to players.
No way LAD isn’t pushing the money players can earn outside of contracts (like how ohtani lives off big endorsement deals) that clubs like KC or PIT never could.
I’d be in favor of contraction over a salary cap, absolutely. There is no magic wand you can wave to make every team equal, though. If you gave every team the same amount of resources, LA is still a more attractive place to play than KC or Pittsburgh is, for a plethora of reasons. The NBA proves that. Everyone has the same resources there, and how many free agents are signing deals with Milwaukee or Charlotte, two teams I specifically picked from opposite ends of the competitive spectrum?
It wasn’t the Dodgers who decided to kneecap the earning power of international players; leaving their main choice being whether they want to play for a winner or not. That was a joint effort between the owners, Manfred, and the MLBPA. It turns out there can be negative consequences when trying to control a market.
Good for you. You have looked past the trees and seen the forest for what it is, a corrupt billionaires club with countless millionaires along for the ride. All of them crying poor.
Your point is Manfred ruined the sport on his watch when he actually had a chance to make it more competitive with an international draft. He intentionally stole 100s of millions of dollars from poor international families to make it easier for large market teams, like the dodgers, to manipulate talent disparity by aligning their system with top talent acquired unfairly due to their demographic location instead of the parity of a draft. Your right !
And the dodgers pushed for that agenda then manipulated the rules in their favor to overload their team with talent. Then they manipulated the rules and salary cap again with massive deferred salaries that are possibly with their increased overseas revenue.
Dodgers are cheaters and manfred stood by, enabled it, then watch it all unfold. Worst commissioner in sports history !
It took you the entire post to finally get to an accurate statement. He is the worst commissioner.
Why the Orioles receive revenue sharing is ridiculous. Do they not own the vast majority of their RSN, thereby, controlling the tv rights of two Major League teams.
He’s right, billionaires are.
I just glanced at the headline and I thought it was “The Dodgers are not RUNNING baseball.” Eeek! Perhaps they are. He’s been an awful commissioner. But he gets paid every week no matter what I say. We refer to the “ghost runner” in the 10th inning as “the Manfred Man.” as a reminder of how it happened.
Does he get any emails from fans about how a salary floor might be helpful?
Manfred is the one entity on Earth that is ruining baseball MORE than the Dodgers. So he is technically correct.
Ummm… did anyone actually think he’d say “Dodgers a ruining baseball… how dare they!”
No…City Connect jerseys are!!!
The Pirates, A’s and Marlins are ruining baseball.
Manfred is ruining baseball. Actually, it’s not even baseball anymore. It’s something completely different.
The current commissioners office that has radically changed game rules is ruining baseball from the top down. The Dodgers are simply playing the game.
Well, they Tigers screwed up when they didn’t hire the Superfife.
Billion $ in deferred deals
Criminal gambler who belongs in jail
Monopoly on intl players from asia
Incompetent crooked Manfred does nothing
This is bad for fans, the game, the tradition, history
No wonder mlb is like #11 popular sport
Forget abt the obvious nfl nba soccer nascar
Ppl would rather watch golf or wnba than the disgrace mlb has become
johnc,
The criminal gambler, Ipoei Mizuhara, received his sentence today.
Why do they keep bringing it up then??? Also, Manfred himself has ruined to game itself to quite an extent. He keeps it up, the game of baseball will be a shell of it’s former self. Fire Manfred and make baseball great again.
Let’s take a poll does anyone care what Manfred has to say on this topiic?
Like the commissioner is going come out and say a team is ruining the game he’s charged with running. TR should be embarrassed they even posted this.
“Those who believe baseball doesn’t have a parity problem will point to the fact that baseball has been fairly dynasty-proof lately. No club has won consecutive World Series since the 1998-2000 Yankees. The Dodgers, for all their might in the regular season, just won a title in a full season for the first time since 1988. Smaller clubs like the Rays, Guardians and Brewers have stayed steadily competitive in recent years.”
This is such BS. The fact that no teams have won consecutive World Series for 25 years doesn’t mean the league has parity, it just indicates how random the playoffs can be. The big spenders (i.e., Dodgers and Yankees) win their division / make the playoffs virtually every year and continually poach players from the small market teams once they become too expensive. Yeah, they don’t win the World Series every year, but they’re always in contention. Many small market teams are lucky to make the playoffs a couple times a decade.
Small market teams being ‘competitive’ only to be bounced in the WC round by real talent.
Unless they include the Astros or Rangers in that ‘small market group’ (I don’t) when was the last time a small market team won the World Series? Outside of the Rays who needed a shortened season to make it, when was the last time a small market team even made it to the World Series?? Do we believe the Nationals are a small market team?
Last time LA won WS in 88, There was 4 playoff tms
Now theres 14
Thats why its hard to win
Manfred is an idiot
I love it! The Dodgers are trolling haters with a Death Star bobble head on Star Wars night. They are embracing the evil empire theme. Viva the azul!
The Death Star was destroyed…. Not sure I’d want to embrace that legacy.
I’d be completely disinterested if I was a dodger fan. I’ve never hated the dodgers nor considered them villainous like I would the Yankees. And still do not.
It’s more like if you made a team of all the steroid users from the 90s. That’s how I view today’s dodgers !
Well,, the Yankees were a team of steroid users. Clemens and Pettite, Giambi and Aroid, and then the criminals. Lots of them. And their owner. Holy cow, a veritable cesspool.
The Dodgers are adopting the Steingrabber method of buying up the best players like Betts and Freeman and Ohtani. The difference is that these guys are actually decent upstanding humans, not PED infested cheaters.
Yes, the Yankees ruinreed baseball by REWARDING players who cheated. And they won championships so they deserve to be considered slimy, underhanded, despicable, slugs.
But the Dodgers? Hats off to them.
Lmao ! Nice post
Billionaire baseball owners fall into one of two categories: those who prioritize making money and those willing to spend whatever it takes to win for the good of the game. If your team’s ownership is more focused on profit than building a winning team, you have every right to call them out. But don’t blame the Dodgers for doing exactly what a committed organization should—investing in their team and their fans.
Baseball isn’t broken. Every owner in the league has the financial resources to improve their team. Market size is irrelevant when billionaires have the means to spend, not just for their fans, but to increase the long-term value of their franchise. Choosing not to invest isn’t just bad for baseball—it’s bad business. Period.
It’s broken because there’s no stick nor carrot for rich owners to spend on their teams.
And no, market size does have importance. It’s very clear that the bigger the market, the more corporate HQs that buy up seats, more business owners and hardcore fans there are, bigger TV deals and sponsors, and more money flowing through the team. Every owner has the resources to spend but saying a market’s size doesn’t affect spending is pretty blind.
But I do agree that it’s bad for baseball in general if owners don’t spend. Too many paycheck collectors. We need more hardcore sports fans to be owners instead of these disinterested private equity and hedge fund operators.
Manfred ruined MLB, the Dodgers are merely a byproduct of the Manfred regime of incompetence.
Lmao, cuz if there’s one person in baseball we all agree is always telling the truth, it’s Rob Manfred. I don’t subscribe to the belief the Dodgers are ruining baseball, but if MLB thinks Manfred addressing the issue will make things better they’re more delusional than I thought.
The league is broken because of the blindness of commissioner and the rules in place .Equality isn’t even close it’s only good for the high revenue teams. In east and west.
Manfred is not blind to what’s going on. He’s a puppet; you know, a front man. As long as the majority of owners and the player’s union are happy with revenue numbers and how it’s dispursed, the model will not change especially player payroll. Manfred just takes his marching orders from the MLB power brokers and spins it on us fanatics. He’s good at it.
Lazy, boring free agents who love making the lazy, boring choice are ruining baseball. One of my first thoughts when hearing about Sasaki signing was “He went with the LAZY, BORING CHOICE”.
The parity problem exists on both ends. Yes, the Dodgers spending gets headlines but Nutting and others pocketing tens of million earmarked for competitive balance also hurts.
Increase revenue sharing, create a salary floor equal to the amount of money received from that pot, and make the luxury tax have real teeth.
… not having a true commissioner, independent of the owners and players union, is what is killing baseball Rob. Of course if you cared about the game, you would have stepped down a long time ago, but you don’t and the fans know it.
A lot of fans, say and think otherwise
Get rid of CBT and QO. Draft for international players. A payroll floor set equal to a derivative of the national TV shared revenue. Maybe 120%.
I’m waiting for the Golden At-Bat to destroy MLB.
The massive amount of salary deferrals like the Dodgers do is one thing that really needs to be reigned in. Ohtani’s deferred money to that degree is outrageous and allows them to really lower the amount of their tax and makes more room for other large contracts too. Dodgers have over 1 billion in deferred salary. That’s outrageous. .
“the inability for lesser spending teams to retain free agents”. not saying they don’t actually have the money its just they’re lesser spending or did they mean cheap? either way its not the fault of teams willing to put the bones on the table.
Baseball has structural issues, but an industry that brings in $12.1 B in revenues, and plays in free or heavily subsidized stadium is far from on the ropes. Salary cap/salary floor that was realistic and not just focussed on increasing profits….doubtful, from e
Sure, but that $12b in revenue isn’t translating into every team being a super team.
What do you expect him to say? Yes, the dodgers are signing all the top guys to ridiculous contracts and it’s making baseball less fun for most other teams. Maybe he’s thinking that it won’t say it.
He’s right.
The Dodgers and their absurd spending are NOT ruining baseball.
The ENTIRE point of MLB baseall.is for the big market teams to thrive while the small market teams are just there for window dressing.
The league wants it. The TV networks want it. Merchandisers want it. And the fans of big market teams want it.
The absolute last thing the league wants is a Tampa vs. Pittsburgh World Series.
The Dodgers are doing exactly what Manfred wants them to do.
And as long as the fans of big market teams keep pretending it’s just because their team tries harder or whatever smoke they blow up their own…
Nothing will change.
The facts:
Owners don’t mind when some owners don’t spend (and don’t try to win either), it’s almost collusion. How so? Owners have less teams to bid against for services of players thus in theory driving the value down in contracts and also making it easier to win games.
The players don’t want a ceiling for obvious reasons but they sure do want a floor. The more teams that have to spend say $110m, the more money that goes out in contracts (hundreds of millions more).
Also when the big markets spend more and win more, the ratings are higher in those typically larger cities too.
Pete Alonso and the Mets just saved the off season.
If he wasn’t getting emails from other owners, he’d do nothing to address the problem.
If anything happens, it’s because the other owners got together and pushed Manfred to fix the problem.
And whoever the journalist was… Did they really expect any other answer?
I could care less about the huge payroll the dodgers have , it’s the deferred money that is suspect to me . I’m jealous that they spend and the Cardinals are stuck with an owner that won’t spend at all and needs to sell the team before the once great cardinals name is tarnished forever !
Rob Manfred>Dodgers, Roger Goodell>Chiefs. Two peas in a pod…
The Dodgers have every right to sign which players they think will enable them to win consistently and have certainly gone that route for the last several years…..but you still have to play 162 game to get to the playoffs and from then on, it’s not necessarily the team that has the best paper team, but the team that’s playing best….if that coincidently is the Dodgers so be it.
Whats wrong is the way they are seemingly getting around the lux tax with the amount of salary they are deferring into the future which needs to be addressed……using deferred contract offers, they can easily outbid any competing team for a free agent……
No, the Dodgers are not ruining baseball. The bigger issue is far and away the fact that roughly 20 teams openly aren’t even trying in any given season, and another half dozen are only willing to half ass it. The number of owners who cry poverty despite record TV deals and government-funded stadiums is what’s ruining baseball, aided and abetted by a commissioner who wants to push asinine rule changes and do nothing about the franchises openly waving their middle fingers at their cities and fanbases. The fact that the Dodgers are the only team making an effort to actually use all of the financial resources at their disposal is certainly unhealthy, but they are the symptom and not the underlying problem.
“The fact that the Dodgers are the only team making an effort…”
EXACTLY.
The richest teams just happen to be the only ones that make an effort.
The same way Jeff Bezos works a billion times harder than you do.
Maybe not but he is…
The dodgers aren’t ruining baseball, Manfred is doing a fine job of that himself.
There are currently 5 MLB teams in California. The Dodgers shouldn’t have as significant of an economic benefit as they do have, just based on that. One of the reasons California teams have more economic power is due to political reasons. Workers have more rights in California, so more people have more money to spend on pastimes. If people want their favorite sports teams to have more economic power, they should vote based on policies that produce those outcomes. There isn’t much the commissioner, or the MLBPA can or should do to affect that outcome. The owners of many teams that don’t enjoy the same economic benefits as the Dodgers do tend to contribute heavily to political causes that negatively impact their own teams. The best ownership model for a sports franchise is probably Bayern Munich. Per Bundesliga rules, teams must be 51% fan-owned, though Bayern is 75% owned by the fan trust. The remainder of the club is owned by 3 large corporations, Adidas, Audi, and Allianz a financial and insurance company, which each own 8.33%. Want your favorite baseball team to spend more, thereby ensuring a more competitive outcome? Support workers’ rights, stop giving money to bad owners, and plot a fan-ownership takeover. Simple enough.
The Dodgers have officially ruined Baseball. I am about to end watching after 50 years. Now to me it’s just cheating. There is no salary cap and no parity anymore. Not worth watching anymore. I feel sorry for the small market teams who struggle to survive. The salaries of the players are way out of control. Keep it up Manfred and I’m done. Especially with all the new rule changes. Baseball is turning into a joke now.
I need financial assistance after watching 173 Dodger games in 2024. Mostly on TV but a good number in person, plus 20-something AZ spring training games. It’s expensive feeding this habit.
sure claim parity because no ‘ dynasties’. 9/12 teams in the playoffs in 2024 were top 12 in payroll. spin it any way you want. I guess the Dodgers winning 98 or more games for like 9 years, has nothing to do with their top 5 payroll…Manfred as usual, your idea that fans are stupid, has a very bright light on it.
Bullcrap, Do wah diddy, Manfred Mann
this article is going to rub Tim the wrong way you should be careful lol.
Correct. Pirates, Reds, Marlins et al are ruining baseball. Sadly, the average baseball fan is too stupid to understand that and blame the owners who care to put out a good product rather than those who refuse to.
If those teams spent another $50 million a year, the Dodgers and Yankees would spend another $100 million.
If those teams spent another $100 million a year, the Dodgers and Yankees would spend another $200 million.
Unless the leagues stop them, the big market teams will always leverage their advantages.
MLB needs a good villain, it’s great for business. Do u rmbr a hot stove offseason where there was so much attention on baseball ? 1st of all, they’re defending WS champs, signed Snell to huge contract, re-signed Teo n Treinan, signed Scott n Yates to bolster bp, n won Roki sweepstakes. Now they’ve pilford the 3 best players from NPB, all in there prime. That opens Dodgers n MLB to 120million plus new baseball fans in a country that loves the game. Makes for ton of pressure cause its WS victory or the season’s a failure. If I wasn’t Dodger fan since ’79 I’d hate them too. Go Dodgers !
Robby the robot got his marching orders apparently.
If the Yankees didn’t ruin baseball leading in payroll for more 10 years then the Dodgers are doing okay
Pretty convenient for billionaire owners that Dodgers absurd spending levels is generating public pressure for a salary cap. Couldn’t have planned it any better if owners tried…unless, you know, they did.
Owning your own RSN is critical for the cash-flow that goes beyond players, to facilities and treatment of players’ families. In the case of the Blue Jays ownership, which own multiple national sports networks (NSNs), including ones that show its games on TV and over radio, it has allowed them to upgrade all facilities in Toronto and Dunedin and compete for Ohtani and Soto as few others can. Are the penalties for big spenders helping the smaller teams, is it helping strengthen the minors, the local kid teams, is it building a talent pipeline? I believe it should.
Of course he’s gonna say they’re not ruining baseball because he’s a Dodger fan.
Andrew Friedman first made a name for himself with the small-market Tampa Bay Rays by implementing efficient, “moneyball”-style strategies. He invested in better nutrition, housing, and overall support for minor leaguers, enabling the Rays to develop talent effectively despite limited resources. Now, at the helm of the big-budget Los Angeles Dodgers, he applies the same principles but can also sign major free agents. This combination of a strong homegrown core and high-profile acquisitions has consistently kept the Dodgers in contention.
Critics accuse Los Angeles of “ruining baseball” through its wealth, yet the MLB commissioner and many others see the franchise as a model of strong management and innovation. On top of that, the Dodgers enjoy a sterling reputation among players and staff—stars naturally want to join a team with championship aspirations. It’s also worth noting that when other clubs are in contention and have the financial means, they, too, chase marquee free agents. Ultimately, the Dodgers’ success underscores the importance of forward-thinking strategy, robust player development, and smart spending—lessons any organization can apply rather than simply complaining about unequal resources.
Except you disprove your own point.
The Rays (and the other small market Moneyball teams) never won using the Friedman formula but $300 million later the Dodgers (Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, etc.) do.
Coincidentally, right?
Obviously the dodgers aren’t ruining baseball. Manfred is doing that just fine on his own thank you!
Well yeah, they actually are.
No Rob you are doing a great job of destroying the game all on your own!
Nobody pays any attention to anything you have to say. You ruin everything you touch you’re like a deep state politician
Manfred is!
I really don’t think a guy like Manfred who makes somewhere between 25 t0 40 million a year in salaries has a good gauge of how the average fan feels about his team when they are compared to the Dodgers. I am not hating on the Blue Boys because they are just exploiting the system very intelligently.
Is MLBTR getting USAID funding?
Yall are essentially a propaganda arm
300M should be a hard cap and a min cap at 100M
Small markets that can not support said spendings should be set up for relocation to stronger markets. Las Vegas is a core one. Tampa, same thing. Wrecking that park created a opertunity to find a more profitable home vs fixing up a lame duck.
The comish office needs to look at the health of MLB as a whole and create a equal(er) playing field by forcing low revenue teams to become more profitable and then forcing those profits back into payroll. That will appease the union where a hard cap at 300M is TBH not a issue that this generation with have to worry about anyways.
Manfred will accept NO competition in his effort to ruin baseball.
He’s right. They aren’t ruining baseball. They’ve already ruined it.
boyfreds a real doozie..
ANTHONY RENDON is ruining baseball in Anaheim.
His contract should be voided!!!
Blaming your customers is not a pathway to long term success.
Shouldn’t Lord Manfred be telling us about his other grand ideas for baseball? The golden at bat rule was pure gold. Please tell us more!
I am totally excited to see the 29 iterations of the Washington Generals vie for the opportunities to lose to the Dodgers in the post-season
What’s embarrassing is not how the big market teams owners act. It’s the fact that some small market teams are fine with the way it is.
Which means give me revenue sharing money and I can make millions by not spending.
These dopes promoted fisher…that’s all you need to know about this group.
Yes they are…
When the Dodgers win 5 world Championships in a row I’ll concede there needs to be changes.
Contract the Rays because they’re too stupid to play in Tampa Bay. Guantanamo Bay or Green Bay is a safer venue.
During the last lockout Manfred specifically claimed that owners’ returns are below what you could expect from the stock market.
Now, we know that’s an absolute lie…proven a lie every time a team goes up for sale.
So take whatever he says with a grain of salt.
2029 can’t come soon enough. I don’t think his replacement will be much better.
Without all teams disclosing income (not profits or expenses) and without a level financial playing field as far as TV revenues. It’s important to have a floor payroll. If you can’t afford to ante up, then sell the team or get out of the game. Too many teams playing the cheapness game, which is why having John Fisher on any board after what he did in Oakland is a disgrace. Spend money and buy good players and your crowds will grow. Fisher chased fans out of Oakland. You can’t impose a cap when the Dodgers, for instance, are committed for the next decade to (over)paying big stars. Propose a step deal so that by 2034, a team must spend $150MM on payroll, but not more than $400MM. Then you’ll see some crazy roster shuffling, trades, etc. And those numbers will be subject to annual adjustment based on revenues. But get started NOW with negotiations.
I think you have to incentivize teams to get close to the CBT threshold while penalizing teams for leaving it in the dust. Draft pick penalty for teams passing X% of CBT. Lottery for all teams within X% of CBT #. Go build your super team. Just give the “mid-majors” some incentive to increase payroll, minimize tanking and go for one of the many playoff spots available.
Baseball is being ruined by owners and agents. Players are just pre-madonnas reaping the rewards. But there are other snakes in the grass like online betting, corporates and mafia.
There 100% needs to be a salary floor but soft and have similar e punishments as going over the cap or luxury tax.. so first no revenue sharing, draft pick loss makes sense. then dollar amount penalties based On either the amount the team is under or based on the difference in league average spending vs were the teams spending is. .over the past 10 years league average spending only went under 110M once due to COVID and around 160M sense COVID. Only the As spent under 80M last year so maybe have a 75M floor then have a 75% tax on anything less with loss of revenue sharing and a 110% tax on anything less then 65M so it actually costs more that way
. I think a international draft makes alot of sense but the KBO, NPB and CBL would fight that because that’s the only way for them to actually get a star. Canada and Puerto Rico are draft eligible but everywhere else there trainers would riot because that’s how they earn there living.