On Dec. 11, 2023, the world-renowned Los Angeles Dodgers signed the Japanese superstar and unanimous reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani from their crosstown rival, the Los Angeles Angels. 

The contract, worth $700 million over 10 years, was the largest in baseball history by over $250 million, and substantially more than that of Patrick Mahomes — which became the second largest contract in North America after Ohtani’s signing. 

Fast forward two years, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have won the 2024 and 2025 World Series, signing more star players such as Teoscar Hernández, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Blake Snell, resulting in the team running an estimated $415 million payroll.

In comparison, the Colorado Rockies — who earned the record for the worst 40-game start in the 21st century and won a mere 26.5% of their games this season — had a total payroll of $129 million.

Out of the teams with the top 12 highest-salary payrolls in the MLB, eight of them have made the playoffs, with the champion having the highest payroll and the runners-up having the seventh-highest payroll.

The MLB has a wealth inequality problem, and it’s evident. 

The solution is to increase regulations on team spending by installing a salary cap, which is a ceiling on the amount a team can spend on player salaries.

Since 1984, the NBA has used a salary cap. This has created a competitive balance between the richest and poorest teams, without creating tensions in contract negotiations between players and organizations due to the “soft cap” installed.

The soft cap allows teams to exceed the cap, but with heavy penalties especially for repeat offenders, whereas the hard cap sets a strict limit on how much teams can spend without exceptions.

The current system that the MLB uses is flawed, so why not fix it? 

Solutions have been found in two other major sports leagues (the NBA and NFL) by enforcing a salary cap, which instead would offer an alternative system to an outdated philosophy that has already been causing conflict in the MLB. 

The salary cap discourages dynasties such as what the Dodgers have created over the last half decade, winning three World Series titles since 2020 and signing increasingly prominent international superstars from Japan and South Korea. 

Thus, spreading international talent would also bring international viewership to a variety of teams that sign players instead of to a select group of the wealthiest teams.

The problem with implementing a salary cap is that the cap would limit player salaries, which have already increased to an exorbitant amount. By introducing the cap the league risks a player strike, which could lose the MLB millions of dollars. 

To create a balance between player salaries and an evenly competitive market, the league must implement both salary minimums and caps.

The salary minimum would force owners — who often don’t like to spend money in free agency — to spend a minimum amount of money on players each year.

This uber-manipulation of the market would create a driven free agency that benefits player salaries along with equality for less affluent organizations.

A more competitive league only provides more viewership and fan engagement to all clubs, thus formulating monetary benefits for the MLB along with all of its 30 major league franchises.