No cap? No chance. Why MLB’s system is broken

Major League Baseball is awesome, but the conversation surrounding the league and one that is on many, if not every, fan's mind, is does the league needs a salary cap? Those two words, which owners see as a dream and the MLBPA a nightmare, could impact whether baseball is actually played in 2027.

Unfortunately, the league is at a standstill when it comes to the salary cap.

The juggernaut owners in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York could not be more against the cap.

While the small market owners, in Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, couldn't care less because they refuse to open their wallets.

If you do not believe that this is a real issue, just look at the World Series.

For the fifth time in the past ten seasons, the team with the highest payroll that year reached the World Series. That team, obviously, is the Los Angeles Dodgers, from the National League.

From the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays punched their ticket to the World Series, knocking off the Seattle Mariners.

The Blue Jays have the fifth-highest payroll in baseball, making it the second year in a row the two teams squaring off in the fall classic were both in the top five.

This year, the Dodgers are expected to pay a luxury tax of almost 170 million, which is higher than the payrolls of 16 MLB teams. That is over half of the league.

That is also 20 million dollars more than the combined payrolls of the two lowest-spending teams, the Athletics and the Miami Marlins.

This is not a new development either, last year the Dodgers paid a 107 million dollar luxury tax, en route to a World Series title where they beat yet another high spender in the New York Yankees, who had the highest payroll in 2024 with a luxury tax of 62.5 million dollars, which is just a million dollars less than the Athletics' entire payroll.

The solution? A salary floor and a salary cap. Forcing the small market owners to open their wallets and pay their players, and restricting the big market owners from having a payroll over 300 million every year.

It is not only what’s best for the teams, but it is what’s best for the fans. Fans of the Rockies and the White Sox don’t go into the season with the optimism they deserve because they know if they’re going to go anywhere, they’ll have to get through the Dodgers or the Yankees first.

Agreeing on a salary floor and a salary cap is easier said than done. The league's cheapest owners don't want to pay their players, and the MLBPA doesn’t want their players to earn less.

Look at the NFL.

More specifically, the Green Bay Packers. They are an even smaller market team than the Brewers, yet year after year, they compete with the rest of the league.

Why? Because the NFL requires them to spend a minimum of 90% of the salary cap. They have just as good if not a better chance to succeed, than a team from New York or Los Angeles.

Winning in the NFL is based on talent, not how much money you can spend, something the MLB should adapt if we want to see baseball played in 2027.

Sawyer Bogaty is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please contact him at sgb5468@psu.edu.