Dodgers' $392M payroll 'harming' other MLB teams, claims analyst
The Los Angeles Dodgers have the highest payroll in baseball by a wide margin. They've outspent even the New York Mets by $68 million. Their $392 million payroll is the highest in baseball history, too.
There has been an outcry among baseball fans that what the Dodgers are doing is unfair. It's within the rules of baseball's financial system, but fans don't believe their teams, for the most part, have a real shot at competing with Los Angeles both on the field and in the financial department.
MLB insider Jeff Passan sympathizes with the plight of these fans. On Wednesday, he said (via SportsCenter):
"What the Dodgers are doing is within the constraints of the CBA, and that's why no one can really complain. ... It's not just the deferred money, it's the money they're putting into signing bonuses and the fact that they can pay guys more than other teams are willing to.
Passan called it a "fundamental issue" with baseball that dates back long before the Dodgers started doing this. He did say that salary cap leagues don't have the parity that the MLB has long had, so that may not solve the problem.
The insider added:
"It's really the feeling of not being able to compete that is harming these teams and harming fan bases more than anything. It's something that over the next couple years, as the CBA expires after the 2026 season, we're going to have to keep an eye on."
He went so far as to say that the future of baseball might depend on how the league reacts to this.
MLB commissioner echoes Jeff Passan's statement on the Dodgers
Jeff Passan's stance on the Dodgers' rampant spending spree is much the same as that of the MLB commissioner. Rob Manfred also noted that there's nothing underhanded going on, but he believes the system, not the Dodgers, is to blame.
He refused to discuss possible solutions, though. With the CBA negotiations coming soon, he'd prefer to keep the thoughts and ideas private.
"I'm not going to get into what the answer is," Manfred said of a possible salary cap (per ESPN). "We're a year away. I have owners with really strongly held views that I need to coalesce into a position that we'll ultimately take to the MLBPA. I don't think starting that debate publicly is a good start. Whatever we settle on, we're going to present in the collective bargaining process and try to handle it privately in order to get a deal."
MLB will apparently weigh a lot of options to address the concerns of fans and teams across the league.