Opening salvos are being fired as the Major League Baseball (MLB) Collective Bargaining Agreement approaches its expiration in December 2026.The players are against any measures that would stop the uncontrollably high salary rise, while MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred wants to control costs for owners.
The fan is the only voice that will not be heard and is not represented in the discussions. At their own risk, however, the owners and union do not listen to the supporters. Because baseball has no economic future without fans.
The idea of competitive balance is essential to these discussions. Competitive balance is fairly easy for viewers to understand. Competitive balance exists when every team has an equal opportunity to compete. There isn’t if certain teams are hampered by institutional prejudices. And MLB fails on this criterion. terribly.
The Dodgers, the MLB team with the highest payroll ($341 million), spent roughly five times as much in 2025 as the Marlins ($68 million). While some lower-payroll clubs might be able to spend more, their chances of doing so are slim. A structural bias is that.
And it has an impact. Only one true small market team—the Royals—has won the World Series in the past 20 years, despite all the fixes MLB has put in place. Additionally, only two teams—the Royals and the 2017 Astros—have won the World Series since at least 2011 without having a payroll in the top ten, and both of them did it by tanking, which is the deliberate fielding of a team that isn’t competitive for a number of years in order to increase a club’s chances of winning in the future through trades and drafting.
In fact, five of the eight teams that have won the World Series in the last ten years—the Royals, Cubs, Astros, Nationals, and Braves—did it only after losing badly.
The several clubs that have lately qualified for the playoffs are cited by supporters of the present system. However, those figures only account for the additional playoff positions. The fact that top-10 payroll teams have earned half of all playoff spots over the last ten years is more pertinent. Only two of the 11 teams that missed the playoffs more than twice during this time frame are from larger markets.
The Tampa Bay Rays are cited by others as evidence that small-market teams are capable of regular competition. It is absurd to argue that competitive balance is attained when high-payroll clubs can continuously compete while smaller market teams must perform the managerial equivalent of throwing a perfect game, aside from the fact that the Rays model has proven extremely difficult to replicate.
I don’t blame small and mid-market clubs for their collapse, nor do I blame larger market teams for their excessive spending. Both are operating inside the current system in a reasonable manner. However, it is extremely discouraging for supporters to support a team that isn’t making an effort or to see clubs spending at levels you could never fathom.
However, reckless spending and tanking are only signs of a problem. The main issue is that MLB does not provide every team an equal opportunity to compete. Everyone is aware of this, but neither owners nor players are motivated to change because MLB teams have seen an 8% annual increase in value over the last ten years and top pay have skyrocketed. The interests of fans are disregarded, and all we hear about are additional system fixes. Nothing has been resolved by these patches thus far, and nothing will be resolved in the future.
Rather, we must admit that the system is flawed for the majority of fans and address it. MLB is playing a risky game of roulette by expecting that fans will keep coming until we accomplish it.
From the viewpoint of a fan, here is one way ahead. First, establish a salary band to remove economic discrimination amongst teams. The ratio of the highest to lowest payrolls would drop from 5.0 to merely 1.2 with a band of $180 million (floor) to $220 million (maximum).
Second, raise the wage range by 4% each year, which is half the average MLB franchise’s growth rate, to ensure salary growth. After five years, total compensation spending would reach $7.3 billion, a 42% increase from 2025, if all 30 teams spent at the band’s midpoint ($200 million initially).
Third, implement more rigorous revenue sharing from TV deals to help smaller market teams attain the pay band. While we’re at it, let’s spend a portion of the proceeds to make it possible for all families to routinely attend ball games (the average cost in 2025 was $208) without having to pay for parking, $15 beers, and $8 hot dogs.
By giving all home teams an equal opportunity to compete and giving spectators a reasonably priced day at the ballpark, these actions would help keep fans interested. Additionally, it would provide more (and increasing) wage expenditure for players while keeping owners’ spending under check. That is an excellent starting point for talks.
Moss is a Washington resident and a lifetime baseball lover.
