As Major League Baseball approaches the expiration of its current Collective Bargaining Agreement on December 1, 2026, discussions about implementing a salary cap and floor have intensified. MLB officials have privately considered these changes, aiming to address the significant spending disparities among teams. This season, the New York Mets lead with a $323 million payroll, while the Miami Marlins spend just over $67 million. Nine teams exceed $200 million in player salaries, while five fall below $100 million. Including the luxury tax, the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to spend over $500 million, setting a record. The Mets will pay more than $400 million. MLB’s revenue has grown at 4.1% annually over the past decade, yet player salaries have only increased by 3% per year, missing out on an additional $2.3 billion. Since 1998, top-five payroll teams averaged 89 wins per season, compared to 74 wins for bottom-five teams. MLB has seen 16 different World Series champions since 1998, the most among major U.S. sports leagues. However, only the 2003 Florida Marlins, ranked 21st in spending, won with a bottom 10 payroll. Local media revenue significantly impacts team spending, with the Dodgers earning over $300 million annually from their deal with Charter Communications, while the Marlins earn about $50 million.
Adam Best
@Arrowhead_Adam
·
Feb 12 Salary cap dollars in void years (a smart way of circumventing annual limits):1. PHI: $390.4M
2. SF: $204.1M
10. DET: $52.1M
11. BAL: $50.8M
16. BUF: $33.1M
28. KC: $1.86MClark Hunt must spend more aggressively. The Chiefs are in danger of falling way behind in the arms race.
𝙆am Brice
@kambrice1tv
·
Jan 22 David Rubenstein talked about about the current state of the MLB payroll (via:
@YahooFinance
)— “I wish it would be the case that we would have a salary cap in baseball like other sports do, and maybe eventually we will, but we don’t have that now. What we have is a luxury tax
Bill Navari
@BillNavari
·
Apr 5 What they should be chanting is SALARY CAP! SALARY CAP!
The
@Pirates
can’t compete with the
@Yankees
who have a $300 million payroll larger than the Bucs.
The only way for teams like the Buccos to compete is if
@MLB
puts in a salary cap and revenue sharing. Otherwise, the only
TF Sloanᕙ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕗ
@thosloan
·
20h They free up 3million in payroll (the amount Atlanta is taking on) he is owed about 11.5 total. Astros got a little breathing room from the $241mil Luxury tax line. Baseball doesn’t have a salary cap. They seem determined to stay below $241m (self imposed cap you could call it)
Todd Meier
@todd1967
·
Jan 19 1.25b in deferred salaries
$200m a year tv contract dwarfs all others
$130m over 1st tier lux tax
No other team can do this
Come 2027; new cba will have floor/cap, limit on deferments, probably 10% & int’l draft.
Dodgers at $373m; marlins at $73m. Gap max should be $150m.
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