The Dodgers Aren't Ruining Baseball: Blame MLB's Cheap Owners

Tarek Skubal is a Los Angeles Dodger so naturally baseball has once again been pronounced dead. The two-time reigning American League Cy Young winner was traded to the back-to-back World Series champions and before he could even throw his first pitch in Dodger blue the same tired and quite frankly lazy argument returned. The Dodgers are ruining baseball. They're breaking the sport and Major League Baseball needs a salary cap to stop them. They've developed a really good organization. They draft well. They acquire talent really well. They retain talent. It's a winning organization. Now the complaints seem to be because they've won the last two World Series. You know that I don't think it was like that three years ago so I don't I don't really sympathize with people that are complaining because the Dodgers you know do all the right things. And he's right the Dodgers aren't breaking baseball system. They're just exposing which organizations are Let's start with what the Dodgers actually did here. They didn't simply write Detroit a check for Skubal. They traded three prospects. Zaire Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith. None was a first round pick. Hope and Ryan were both originally 11th round selections acquired by Los Angeles in other trades and developed into top prospects. At the time of the deal MLB Pipeline ranked Hope 25th and Ryan 68 among his top 100 prospects. The Dodgers money helped position them to win but their scouting development and organizational depth made this particular trade possible and for the remainder of the season Skubal's salary cost was reportedly about nine million dollars. The decisive price was talent not a financial loophole unavailable to everyone else. Look the Dodgers they had the prospects. They also had the courage to trade future assets for a better chance to win right now. That isn't baseball being broken. That's one organization refusing to become complacent and looking to maximize their championship window. Sure there is no doubt that money matters. A large payroll provides depth flexibility and a greater margin for error but New York fans they already understand that spending doesn't automatically produce a championship. The Mets have spent aggressively under Steve Cohen's ownership without a World Series title to show for it. The Yankees they remain one of baseball's highest payroll teams. The Dodgers they've also experienced plenty of October disappointment despite their financial advantages. Money must still be combined with drafting, development, health, decision making, and performance. In one current payroll comparison the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees ranked first, second, and third in estimated 2026 luxury tax payroll. We all want to see teams go all out doing everything they can to win. At the end of the day winning is supposed to be the object of the game. The problem isn't that some owners try too hard. It's that others are allowed to try too little. MLB has proposed a hard cap of 245.3 million dollars and a floor of 171.2 million beginning in 2027. Now based on 2026 opening day payrolls the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, and five other clubs would have to cut spending while 12 teams will be required to increase it. A meaningful floor is absolutely worth discussing but a cap cannot become a reward for owners who spent years refusing to invest. And here's an important distinction. The 2026 competitive balance tax threshold is 244 million dollars with escalating taxes and possible draft pick penalties for high spending clubs. Low payroll owners do not simply receive a personal check from the Dodgers luxury tax bill. The more direct accountability question involves revenue sharing. MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer has argued that clubs such as the Pirates and Marlins worsen payroll disparity when they accept revenue sharing money but decline to operate healthier payrolls. To be clear that's the union's position not an independently audited finding. The union has proposed a competitive integrity tax on low payrolls, penalties for teams that fail to put revenue sharing receipts into payroll, and additional awards for lower revenue clubs that actually win. Sometimes we need shame but let's make sure we shame the right people. Don't shame the Dodgers for trying to win. Don't shame the Mets or Yankees for spending money their fans helped generate. Shame the billionaire owners who accept and then point at Los Angeles as their excuse. Baseball does need to evolve and sadly the sport has always been a step behind when it comes to evolution. It needs stronger revenue sharing accountability, a real spending floor, greater financial transparency, a modern local media model that reduces blackouts and shares revenue more effectively. But competitive balance should mean raising the standard at the bottom not punishing the teams that meet the expectations of their fans. The Dodgers aren't ruining baseball they're showing baseball what championship ambition looks like and if your owner isn't willing to match that ambition don't blame Los Angeles just ask the question that has to be asked here. Why isn't the owner of your team trying harder?