MLB's Small-Market Teams Are Thriving, So Why Is Rob Manfred Risking It All?

Prior to the 2024 World Series between the New York Yankees (representing the biggest media market in the nation) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (representing the second-biggest media market in the nation), Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told The Athletic that Major League Baseball’s “…record on competitive balance is darn good.”

Just imagine what he might say here in 2026 about a League Championship Series round filled with small markets, if he and the owners weren’t hellbent on executing a potentially ruinous work stoppage, facts be damned.

The Cleveland Guardians, well into their second generation as the poster boys for small market excellence, officially completed the LCS field Saturday night, when Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer and four pitchers combined to strike out 21 batters in a 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.

A victory by the White Sox — who squandered a two games to none lead in the series — could have easily been spun as a similarly sized victory for small markets. But Jerry Reinsdorf only operates the White Sox, located in the nation’s third-biggest media market, like a small-market team.

The Guardians, located in the 19th-biggest market in the nation and fielding the lowest payroll this season per Spotrac, are the real thing — as are their American League Championship foes, the Tampa Bay Rays (11th-biggest media market with the third-lowest payroll).

In the NLCS, the Dodgers and their second-largest payroll will attempt to knock off the best team in the majors this season, the Milwaukee Brewers, who play in the 38th-biggest market — the smallest market to host a Major League Baseball team — and have the 12th-lowest payroll.

This is the first time in the multi-wild card era that at least three of the LCS teams rank within the bottom half of the majors in payroll. It’s the polar opposite of the 2024 postseason, when the Guardians were the Davids crashing the semifinal party otherwise dominated by a trio of Goliaths in the Yankees, Dodgers and New York Mets.

So why was Manfred touting parity then and preparing us all for the longest offseason in baseball history now? Because of course salary caps aren’t about competitive balance or allowing fans in Cleveland, Milwaukee and Tampa to daydream of playing for a world championship. They’re about breaking a union for funsies sake and making more money in an enterprise that already generates untold billions. Ain’t that America!

If Manfred had any soul or the capacity to feel shame, he’d realize this is the best testimony to the non-cap system — one which can always be tweaked and improved (even some stout Dodgers fans will acknowledge something has to be done about deferred salaries) without blowing it to smithereens.

The Dodgers, Brewers, Guardians and Rays rank first, fourth, fifth and seventh in the majors in regular season wins since 2016. In addition, their farm systems all ranked amongst the top 12 per a post-trade deadline ranking by ESPN.com.

These runs to the LCS round are a reward for long-term excellence as well as an ability to build teams able to navigate the small sample sizes of the expanded postseason.

The final two rounds of the playoffs should serve as an acknowledgment of the sport’s darn good competitive balance, a celebration of the best organizations in baseball and a reminder how everyone should aspire to be them. Instead, we’ll all know these are the final games we’re guaranteed to watch for the foreseeable future while Manfred floors the gas pedal and drives the sport towards the cliff and a work stoppage as damaging as it is unnecessary.