MLB 2025: Year of Ohtani, on the doorstep of an Empire

Needless said:

1.5 billion dollars in pitchers contracts for the dodgers played tonight for this W, sure half of that is ohtani but what the fuck is baseball doing

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Like most things, delaying the money due for years if not decades into the future depends on your perspective:

Option 1: Much like the NFL with Void Years, MLB is just baking inflationary pressure into their contract structure. If players are willing to take inflationary haircuts for guaranteed future salary, all the better.

Option 2: This is just another example of the fundamental need to normalize income in MLB - through hard salary caps, if not revenue sharing as well - to prevent large market teams from running away with the league.

Option 3: Whhrrrgrrbl, Late Stage Capitalism throwing away the future for results today.

Weren't the Blue Jays 5th in payroll? They aren't some minimum wage team. (Dodgers 1st @ $350m vs Toronto 5th @ $255m - for reference last was Miami @ $68m)

I doubt the players want a cap since they all want a chance at that massive contract. About half the luxury tax is also used to fund player benefits and retirement accounts (other half is revenue share). Maybe some players privately seethe when some team hands a 10 year, $300m+ contract to an aging hitter who should have been washed out of the league in the last 5 years of the deal, but they all want a chance at the same deal.

I doubt the bottom payroll teams actually want a cap, since a cap would have to include a higher floor. For 2025 opening day payroll, if the floor-cap was $150m - 200m, 6* teams would be in that range, 13 teams spend below the floor (combined $584m under $150m), and 11 teams spend above (combined $546m over $200m). Those bottom teams enjoy getting "free money" from the general revenue sharing split and the luxury tax split.

I doubt the high payroll teams actually want a cap since they don't want to hand other even more money to bottom teams. Outside of maybe the Yankees, most of the high payroll teams (if not all) are new money teams instead of longtime family owners. New money owners aren't part of the old-school owners club and don't live off the team revenue as their outside businesses more than provide. Even with a cap, player perks, training facilities, modern stadiums, connections, and a host of other things will still give the current high payroll teams many advantages. Even the Buss family sold the Lakers and I'm sure at least one reason was that they couldn't compete with new money owners and saw the recent success of the Dodgers and Rams.

The only people who really want a cap are probably the fans of low payroll teams and a percentage of the media/pundits/sports writers.

*Including Boston as they were only $59k over $200m

A salary cap wouldn't be necessary if you just get rid of deferred payment contracts. If Ohtani was being paid what was deferred in payments, the Dodgers wouldn't have NEARLY the slate of talent that they currently have.

Chanur said:

The kind of talent where you feel any single batter has the ability to make a difference? That's how I've felt the last two years.

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Sir I root for a team that won a WS with Martin Maldonado, I have no concept of what you speak