Major League Baseballappears to be at a tipping point.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at the end of the 2026 season, and negotiations between ownership and the MLB Players Association are expected to be contentious, to say the least. Fans are ready to burn the system down, based mostly on an inaccurate assumption of competitive balance, thanks mostly to spending from theLos Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers are coming off back-to-back World Series wins, then added Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz this offseason on expensive contracts few other teams could match. For some opposing fans, it was another sign that the game is "broken" because of LA's inherent financial advantages.
Opposing players though? They love it. Literally.
San Diego PadresstarManny Machado, who has a contentious relationship with the Dodgers, said "I f****** love it. I love it. I mean, honestly, every team should be doing it. They figured out a way to do it and s*** is f****** great for the game, honestly. So I think every team has the ability to do it, so I hope all 30 teams could learn from that."
Phillies superstarBryce Harpersaid something similar, "I love what the Dodgers do, obviously," Harper said. "They pay the money, they spend the money. I mean, they’re a great team. They run their team like a business, and they run it the right way."
With prominent veteran players coming out to defend LA's spending, it raises the most obvious issue with a salary cap: the union doesn't want one and won't agree to it. So what other options are there?
Jan 21, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker (23) is introduced to the media during a press conference at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
There are obvious reasons why players don't want a cap: they view it as a restriction on what they can earn. Despite what owners and media members might say, that's the point of salary caps, to ensure that ownership retains as much of the revenue as possible. In the NFL for example, players get roughly 48-48.8% of league revenue. But without a cap, individual players like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen might get even more money. Or bidding wars for key talent might push overall salaries higher. The cap system prevents that from happening. Which is why owners love it.
Machado, Harper, and many more players do not want that system in MLB. Yet the disparity in revenue makes some fans, and maybe even owners feel, inaccurately, that they can't compete with LA. How do we fix that?
Source: The Latest & Most Breaking News With OutKick
