Are the Dodgers Forcing Baseball Into Its Next Labor War?
Jon Fleischman writes about baseball in his latest column for the new California Post.
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The Spending Debate Is No Longer About One Team
Every era in sports has a villain — or at least a symbol.
In Major League Baseball right now, that symbol wears Dodger blue.
But this debate isn’t really about Los Angeles. It’s about the future structure of the sport itself. It’s about whether baseball remains a system that allows ownership ambition — or moves toward a hard ceiling that permanently restrains it.
And that question isn’t theoretical.
It’s sitting squarely on the negotiating table.
From Luxury Tax to Hard Cap
For years, baseball has operated under a Competitive Balance Tax system — effectively a soft deterrent to runaway payrolls. Teams that spend above certain thresholds pay penalties. Some treat that as a guardrail. Others treat it as a business expense.
Now a different conversation is gaining traction among ownership circles: cost certainty. Structural limits. A hard cap paired with a floor.
That would represent a fundamental shift in how the sport operates.
The players’ union has historically treated a hard cap as radioactive. Owners frame it as modernization.
Those positions are not easily reconciled.
Why This Fight Could Escalate Quickly
The current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2026 season. That’s not far away in labor terms. Public positioning is already beginning. Language matters. Framing matters.
When one franchise repeatedly pushes payroll into historic territory — and remains competitive while doing so — it doesn’t just spark talk radio debates. It reshapes leverage in the next negotiation cycle.
And baseball history is clear: when structural economics collide with entrenched union resistance, the risk isn’t incremental tension.
It’s shutdown.
In my latest column for the California Post, I walk through why the Dodgers have become the focal point in this debate, what a salary cap would actually mean for players and owners, and why the next labor fight may already be taking shape.
Read the full column here. Even if you aren’t into baseball, this is a great read!
Living the dream, to have a column on the Sports Page!
