MLB's Salary Cap Proposal Doesn't Address Baseball's Biggest Problem

Baseball and the owners published a new stance on the cap heading into the offseason. MLB has proposed a cap and floor that would take effect in 2028, $20 million higher than its original proposal. Currently, 12 clubs would be below the proposed floor, while eight clubs would be above the proposed cap.

In previous proposals, baseball has discussed eliminating or limiting deferred money, but the league did not mention that in this new proposal.

Yes, adding a cap and floor would do wonders for raising the bottom half of the league's salaries and would limit rosters like the Dodgers', but it barely addresses the real issue at hand for baseball.

Los Angeles built the best roster in baseball from a contract structure that only they benefited from: deferred contracts. If revenues aren’t split equally like they are in the NFL and NBA, then the expectation that teams build a roster well above the salary floor is still unlikely.

On the other hand, the players association just isn’t acting in good faith. I don’t want this to come across as some union-busting rhetoric, but this isn’t a normal union. These players are some of the richest people in the country and are currently facing a proposal that, if enacted, would increase total player salaries.

The players' union is only fighting for the highest-paid guys in the sport, the exact opposite of what a players' union should be doing. I have my problems with the current NBA CBA, but it absolutely increased parity in the sport while also helping the whole league see pay increases.

At the end of the day, both sides are at opposite ends of the spectrum. The players want unending contracts that are objectively bad for team building, while the owners want to improve the product for fans.

When a team outside of the Dodgers pays a 10-year contract, they know that means enduring 3+ years of non-elite play. These bad deals destroy teams, either as immediate mistakes or as moves that age poorly in the back half of the deal.

The Dodgers were willing to eat late-contract struggles and overpay guys for money they didn’t deserve at the end of their deals. A player should be paid for what they are now, not for what they’ll be in a decade.

Some simple contractual length changes would be common-sense reform, and it’s a shame the players are completely unwilling to bargain on them.