And lo, the magic words “salary cap” are again heard – and repeated, with the appropriate whiny tone – across the baseball landscape.
I guess a team actually trying to win above all, as opposed to waiting for the price of talent to plummet or holding onto revenue-sharing payments for dear life, does that to people.
Maybe the Dodgers are trying to antagonize the followers of those teams that are pinching pennies, or those who have spent the winter rationalizing their lack of aggressiveness in player procurement. If so, congratulations to Mark Walter, Andrew Friedman, Brandon Gomes and the rest of L.A.’s front office. Not only have you won two World Series championships in five seasons and erased (for now) the stigma of three straight October flameouts, you’re living rent-free in the heads of your opponents and their fans.
It has to be rent-free, because if there were a cost those people wouldn’t pay it.
Let’s recap the five days that have driven those fans crazy:
Friday: The Dodgers win the competition for Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki, whose minor-league contract with a $6.5 million bonus belies his potential impact.
Sunday: The Dodgers add to their bullpen by signing lefty Tanner Scott for four years and $72 million, some of that – yes – deferred, the same method available to everyone else in baseball. (And for those unfamiliar with the concept, by MLB rules the amount to be deferred must be deposited in an escrow account).
Tuesday: Reports surface that they are nearing an agreement, terms TBA and pending a physical, with veteran reliever Kirby Yates, who had 33 saves for Texas in 2024.
The predictable refrain, on social media and in comments sections: “They’re buying all the players!!”
The reality: As of 2 p.m. PT on Tuesday, there were still 149 players listed as free agents on Spotrac’s tracker, including such presumably attractive names as Max Scherzer, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, Anthony Rizzo, Charlie Morton, Kenley Jansen and Jack Flaherty. Are other teams waiting for sweetheart deals? Silly question.
The St. Louis Cardinals have made no major acquisitions this winter after going 83-79, finishing 10 games behind division champ Milwaukee and six games out of a wild-card spot. They’ve pared $30 million off a $175.1 million 2024 payroll, which was 11th in the majors, and are trying to unload third baseman Nolan Arenado and the remaining two years and $59 million on his deal.
The Minnesota Twins, who were 82-80 and four games out of a wild-card spot, likewise have made no moves to augment a roster that cost $127.3 million, 18th in baseball. The Atlanta Braves, swept out of the wild-card series by the Padres, have signed only outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, for $860,000 (slightly above the major-league minimum of $760,000) for one year. The Florida Marlins, who finished just one game better than bottom-feeder Colorado, signed infielder Eric Wagaman for one year at, again, somewhere not too far above the minimum.
The Padres have signed nobody, but they have an excuse. The passing last year of controlling owner Peter Seidler – who did care and did raise his team’s payroll – has resulted in a messy ownership squabble.
True, the TV situation that resulted in bankruptcy for now-defunct Diamond Sports and the restructuring of a number of teams’ broadcast commitments has had an impact on a number of teams and their bottom lines. However, there are other ways to generate revenue. The Braves took a page out of the L.A. Live playbook to develop the area around their ballpark into “The Battery,” profitably so, and a number of other clubs are pursuing or considering similar development.
The Chicago Cubs, for example, developed a mixed-use project across the street from Wrigley Field, including retail, entertainment and office space and a hotel. They own their TV network, Marquee (though it has not been as much of a financial bonanza to the Cubs as Spectrum SportsNet LA has been to the Dodgers). And they drew 2.91 million to 41,649-seat Wrigley Field last season, and have drawn more than three million to that park three times in the past decade – all with teams that made the postseason.
Yet their philosophy seems to be to stay below the luxury-tax threshold at all costs. After finishing six games out of a playoff spot last season, this winter’s work included sending Cody Bellinger to the Yankees, and tossing in $5 million to help defray the $52.5 million owed him over the next two seasons, signing Matthew Boyd, Carson Kelly, Caleb Thielbar and Colin Rea for $48.25 million over six seasons combined, and trading for prospective free agent Kyle Tucker (one year, $16.5 million).
And this is what Cubs owner Tom Ricketts said in a recent radio interview, and parse these sentences carefully: “They (the fans) think somehow we have all these dollars that the Dodgers, the Mets or the Yankees have, and we just keep it, which isn’t true. What happens is we try to break even every year, and that’s about it.”
That sounded hauntingly like the classic quote from the dreary days of Frank McCourt’s ownership, later read into the record of the divorce trial of Frank and Jamie: “This isn’t the AL East. Why would I spend $150 million to win 98 games when I can spend half of that to win 90, if that’s all it takes to make the playoffs in our division?”
The payroll numbers are larger now than they were in the late 2000s, but if you’re a fan, how can you possibly defend that way of thinking, then or now? These are entities worth billions, and the people who own them are richer than any of us can imagine. But how many of those owners actually see themselves as stewards of what are in many ways community assets?
Those cries for a salary cap, thinking it assures parity? News flash: It doesn’t. The league without a salary cap has had eight champions the past 10 seasons. The NFL has had six in nine years (with Kansas City going for a three-peat), the NBA seven in a decade (with the Golden State Warriors accounting for four) and the NHL eight (with repeats by Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh).
Salary caps don’t spread the wealth, they redirect it into owners’ pockets. And it is for that very reason that the Major League Baseball Players Association has successfully fought against the concept at every turn.
Keep this in mind as well: The Dodgers are one of the franchises that contributes to baseball’s revenue sharing fund, which is distributed to lower revenue teams. Additionally, they have paid $187,487,502 in Competitive Balance Taxes over the past three seasons, including $103,016,896 last season, which also goes to the lower revenue teams.
They’ll pay more in 2025, assuredly. But their fan base seems to be just fine with it.
jalexander@scng.com