Current MLB Lockout, Indicative of Socioeconomic State of US?

Karsten Maurer ‘29
maurerkka05@lakeforest.edu
Staff Writer

Wrigley Field might look a lot emptier come 2027.
The current Major League Baseball (MLB) Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is set to expire Dec. 1. If the players and team owners do not agree on a new deal the 2027 season will be at least delayed, if not completely cancelled.
The CBA is a legal contract between all 30 MLB teams and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) that covers workplace issues. Those issues can range from minimum salaries to the recent addition of a pitch clock.
The current debate revolves around capless, ever-rising contracts, heavily favoring large market teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees who can afford to pay these players. This leaves smaller teams such as the Chicago White Sox, and sometimes even the Chicago Cubs, with the scraps.
Jonah Davis, a 19-year-old first-year student, supports the salary cap, even though he understands why players want more money.
“[High salaries] make the game hell for smaller market teams,” he said. “A salary cap should be implemented, even if it’s high to begin with, to stop teams like the Dodgers ruining the sport.”
Benjamin Koch, also a 19-year-old first-year, agreed with Davis.
“A salary cap is a good idea, but I have no idea what [the amount] would be,” he said.
Davis brings up a good point. While viewership has slowly returned from the trough that was 2020-23, baseball is still in the recovery process. The growing disparity between the top teams and the rest creates a lack of competition that just might kill the sport, once and for all.
What makes sports interesting is the fact that you never know what is going to happen, but that’s hard when, for the last couple of years, the teams in the World Series have been larger market teams.
This situation mirrors the rising wealth gap in the United States, where the rich only get richer, and the poor only get poorer. According to Inequality.org, the wealth of the top 12 U.S. billionaires has soared over the past five years, while the wealth of the average American household has stagnated. We see a completely uneven playing field.
Currently, the MLB owners, especially those from smaller market teams, are pushing for a salary cap to avoid that scenario. The proposed salary cap is intended to limit how much purchasing power a team can have.
Another proposed solution is an NBA-like luxury tax, where a team’s entire payroll must not exceed a certain threshold, or else the team is taxed.
That tax is then split between the league and redistributed to all the teams below the threshold. This prevents teams from purchasing championships and generates some revenue for smaller teams.
If one looks at a list of current total contract value, the first small market team shows up at No. 17, with Bobby Witt Jr. and the Royals. The next is No. 27 with Christian Yelich and the Brewers.
The Cubs don’t even show up until No. 33, and the Sox until No. 101. The ability to scoop up the top right as they hit the market creates an unequal balance of talent in the league, meaning that the best get better, and the worst get worse.
Consider the current World Series champions: the Dodgers. According to Fangraphs.com, out of a total of 29 players listed on the roster, four were drafted by the team, but only one is a consistent starter. These teams with deep pockets can afford to buy their roster, creating a lack of team identity that the fans can rally behind.
As of publication, the players have dedicated a salary cap as a non-starter, while owners are currently pushing for its inclusion into contract negotiations.