The Dodger's Didn't Ruin Baseball. They Changed It

About a decade ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers suffered defeat on their home field to the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox in back-to-back World Series appearances. Just a few years later, those pesky Dodgers won their first "October Classic" in over thirty years. At that point—what was seen as a sigh of relief for Dodgers fans that they had finally recaptured that sought-after trophy despite falling flat numerous times—little did we all know that this was just the beginning.

Then came the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023, who surprisingly eliminated their 100-win division rival, making people believe there would be parity throughout the National League. What happened after that final loss on October 11, 2023, would change Major League Baseball history... forever.

The most coveted free agent in baseball history hit the open market: Shohei Ohtani. He shocked the world by driving just down the road to join the fellow Los Angeles team. All of a sudden, the Los Angeles Dodgers seemed to become the most unstoppable force in Major League Baseball.

Years earlier—in that 2020 World Series season previously mentioned, before the world was shut down due to COVID-19—the Dodgers pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire Boston Red Sox superstar Mookie Betts and signed him to a 12-year contract extension following the trade. The year after winning the World Series, the Dodgers brought in All-Stars Trea Turner and Max Scherzer from the Washington Nationals but still fell short of expectations. Immediately afterward, they were able to pry Freddie Freeman away from the Atlanta Braves following their World Series victory in 2021. Still, despite all of these reinforcements, the Dodgers could not replicate their success from that 2020 season.

Then came Ohtani.

He also brought along fellow Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto to headline the rotation alongside future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. Following that, the Dodgers traded for Tampa Bay Rays All-Star pitcher Tyler Glasnow to further strengthen the rotation. They added other important pieces, including Teoscar Hernández a week later and Jack Flaherty at the 2024 trade deadline.

As expected, the Dodgers win the 2024 World Series over the Yankees.

But they weren't satisfied with just one.

They then signed former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and young Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki. The end of the 2025 season mirrored the previous year, with the Dodgers winning the World Series once again despite a valiant effort from the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games.

If winning a second championship wasn't enough, the Dodgers went out and signed All-Star closer Edwin Díaz and MVP finalist Kyle Tucker to further bolster the lineup. It had gotten to the point where fans questioned how they were able to continue doing this with the financial resources they had.

Then, on Saturday night, a trade happened that might have changed the course of Major League Baseball history once again.

The best pitcher in baseball, back-to-back Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, became a Los Angeles Dodger in exchange for prospects..

This sparked a conversation among baseball fans who claimed the trade was "unfair" and "ruining the sport." Beyond the trade itself, writers and reporters immediately connected it to the impending Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations between Major League Baseball's owners and the Players Association following the conclusion of the 2026 season.

The consensus concern is that this has become the "beginning of the end" regarding teams continually stockpiling elite talent and that owners will use the Dodgers as the primary argument for implementing a salary cap system.

Major League Baseball is unique compared to the other major North American professional sports leagues because it operates without a hard salary cap. Instead, teams are funded through league and club revenues, while the NFL, NBA, and NHL all operate under salary cap systems that limit how much teams can spend before exceeding a hard cap.

When you look at the way the Los Angeles Dodgers have operated from 2020 through the present day—amassing roughly $430 million in payroll obligations, including approximately $180 million in luxury tax penalties— the argument for a salary cap has never been louder

In a world where teams can defer player payments so that the present-day value counts for less against annual payroll, many fans grow frustrated watching owners who are unwilling to spend money to improve their franchises. Those fans have called for a salary cap that would also include a salary floor, requiring every team to meet a minimum payroll threshold.

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB Network, one proposal would require teams to maintain a minimum payroll of $171.2 million while implementing a hard salary cap of $245.3 million.

Say the salary cap was implemented during this season, the teams in the photo (according to Fangraphs payroll projections) would be below the cap floor that would be set. 

Based on those same rules, these teams below would be marked as teams that would exceed that salary cap threshold for this season.

There is only one outlier in that projection.

If you look ahead to 2027, there is only one team in Major League Baseball projected to exceed that proposed hard cap of $245.3 million: the aforementioned Los Angeles Dodgers.

Despite this potential rule, the optics may make the Dodgers look like the problem.

However, my argument has always been that every team has the opportunity to spend the same amount of money, utilize deferred contracts, and develop or trade prospects from its farm system just as the Dodgers have.

One criticism from fans has been that prospects in the Dodgers' system are "overrated." It has even led to people asking, "When was the last time the Dodgers actually developed a prospect who became a productive major leaguer?"

Well, two of this season's All-Stars, Justin Wrobleski and Andy Pages, are homegrown players. Will Smith, Dalton Rushing, Kiké Hernández, and Alex Vesia are just a few more examples. On top of that, Miguel Vargas—who was traded at the 2024 deadline—became an All-Star for the Chicago White Sox this season.

To put a bow on it, any owner or general manager can spend as much money as the Dodgers and trade for as many stars as they want if they are willing to use their prospects as assets. Don't blame the Dodgers; blame the Tigers for accepting their offer over everyone else's.

The idea of a potential lockout seems increasingly inevitable, which is unfortunate for Major League Baseball. It has already influenced how teams approached this year's trade deadline and how they will enter the upcoming offseason.

Will there be disagreement over a salary cap? Yes.

Is there a high chance baseball doesn't start on time next year? Probably.

I don't have all the answers, but if Major League Baseball can find a way to further penalize teams that repeatedly exceed the luxury tax, establish limits on how many years contracts can be deferred, and implement a meaningful "reverse luxury tax" that heavily penalizes teams for failing to meet a minimum payroll threshold, then the sport could move in a better direction and create greater parity throughout the league.

Nonetheless, Major League Baseball is in a dangerous spot between the owners, players, and fans. How these negotiations are handled this upcoming winter could change the trajectory and outlook on how baseball is viewed. The Dodgers aren't the sole reason for future changes, they are just exposing the lack of awareness from other owners. But what they have done will be picked on and used as examples as to why Major League Baseball needs change and will start a lockout of the 2027 season.