If you’re a true baseball fan, you know there is something special about this era. Shohei Ohtani is doing the unthinkable, young stars are making headlines, and fans are more into the game than they’ve been in years. Just when everything seems to be falling in place, the league’s decision-makers might be about to mess it all up.
As ESPN’s Jeff Passan suggests, MLB owners, in all seriousness, are considering pushing for a salary cap in the next labor negotiations. If that happens, it could be a full-blown lockout in December 2026. Yes, exactly, it’ll lead to another potential work stoppage, right when baseball is on a roll. If they go down that road, it won’t be just a few postponed games or sparked debates; it has the capability of potentially losing star players like Shohei Ohtani.
Appearing on Foul Territory, Jeff Passan remarked: “Is it worth it to take a great era of MLB, that we are in the midst of right now, and absolutely torpedo it in pursuit of financial gains?” That, essentially, is what would happen if the league pursues a salary cap.
If MLB leans into pushing for a salary cap, you can expect them to lock out the players in December of 2026, says @JeffPassan.
“Is it worth it to take a great era of MLB, that we are in the midst of right now, and absolutely torpedo it in pursuit of financial gains?” pic.twitter.com/ciivgZlor8
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 25, 2025
And that’s not even the most frustrating part. The real frustration is that it’s all about money, especially owners wanting more control over it. It has been made clear by the MLB Players Association that they only see a salary cap as a way for owners to limit player earnings, not as some notable effort to build competitive balance. Honestly, they do have a fair point.
So is such a move even worth it? Definitely not at the cost of ultimately putting the game’s future in America in jeopardy, and pushing away its biggest stars of all time. In fact, revenue matters have created another major hiccup in the league – the divide between the top teams and those with smaller contracts to offer.
MLB’s bottom-feeder issue: why the league keeps saying ‘No’ to fixing it
The gap between baseball’s big spenders and bottom-feeders is rising, and MLB keeps looking the other way. The former MLB All-Star and present MLBPA Special Assistant Andrew Miller says that the players’ union has made an attempt to fix this issue, and they’ve only gotten consecutive rejections.
On Foul Territory, Miller stated, “The league has been very difficult, to be completely blunt. They’ve said no, a lot of times, that this is not something they’ll touch.” That’s right. MLB has constantly rejected the proposals from MLBPA to address the increasing gap between big-spending teams and those happy to settle at the bottom of the payroll rankings.
The union has even pushed for solutions like revenue distribution tweaks and salary floors. But the league doesn’t seem to be taking it seriously; their reason is simple—it’s all about competition, not just money. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred indicated making adjustments with revenue sharing, but unfortunately, nothing has changed.
If MLB keeps dismissing the players’ concerns, the gap is just going to grow. The league has to step up sooner than later, and if that doesn’t happen, the baseball will suffer as a whole in the country.
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