The recent market moves this off-season have left the fans frustrated. Teams like the Padres, the Pirates, and the Blue Jays have not had a good off-season. And many believe this is because of the Dodgers. The Los Angeles Dodgers have officially become the villain of MLB due to their trades. The team has nabbed most of the good prospects and hot players and has left the other teams with almost nothing. This has led to many fans wanting a salary cap and a salary floor to keep the league in control.

With this in mind, the MLBTR podcast had its founder Tim Dierkes as the guest. This was specifically because of his recent posts on X regarding the matter. Tim Dierkes put out a poll titled “Would you trade the 2027 MLB season for a salary cap?” and described this as “kicking the hornet’s nest.” Well, the poll results were shocking to say the very least. There were two questions, where the first one was “Do you want a salary cap in the next CBA?” It seemed that the fans were waiting for this all along as 67.1% voted in favor.

The next one? “Would you be willing to lose the entire 2027 season to get the salary cap?” with a 50-50 poll result. And this led many of the fans to speculate how a hard salary cap should also come with a hard salary floor. This would ensure that the owners are spending at least some good amount to improve their team.

Tim Dierkes also says “If directly asked cap and floor, it could maybe be a little higher than 2/3rds.” This shows that people really want restrictions in the MLB market. Dierkes shared that he is not shocked by the numbers. And to check how eager baseball fans are for this, he put out another poll about the 2027 MLB season. No MLB season has ever been scrapped before but these same reasons caused a chunk of the 1994 season to not being played. This majorly affected baseball as recalled by Tim Dierkes, “But that was absolutely brutal. You still hear people say that they quit baseball because of that.” 

He finds it interesting that many answered the first but not the second question. And Tim thinks this might be because most want a salary cap and floor but are not ready to face the consequences. Amidst this entire fiasco, Tony Clark shared that he would not accept a salary cap. So with this divide between fans and players, it will be interesting to see the outcome.

While future salary conjectures are underway, the recent LA expenses can hardly be ignored.

The “Dodger Tax”: Understanding how LA’s heavy spending affects other teams in the MLB league

The Los Angeles Dodgers have not been wasting any time and have been on a spree to bolster their already super team. They are dealing with the market to sign the best into their team, with the likes of Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, and Tanner Scott. This addition would clearly up the Dodgers’ strength. Although the Dodgers have spent money, there have been some other complications.

Fans are frustrated that such spending gives LA an unfair advantage. According to them, this reduces the excitement to watch the game as it increases the chances of the Dodgers winning the World Series again. The Dodgers’ ability to acquire top prospects through trades can reduce the value of the draft, making it less impactful for teams trying to rebuild.

But it’s not all negative for the Dodgers. There have been some arguments in their favor, too. Many think what the Dodgers are doing, other teams can also do the same. They have called out on the owners who are not willing to spend enough money to improve their team and have a payroll of less than $100 million.

Well, frankly, this is a very complex issue for the MLB to handle and fans think they have to come up with a plan to stop this and give the teams an even playing field. Thoughts?