“MLB Lock Out COMING” - Will Salary Caps DESTROY Baseball?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Patrick Bet-David** (0:30)
Major League Baseball Salary Cap. Owners just proposed a salary cap. It could cost them an entire season, and the entire market is talking about it. I'm about to come to Tom here. And by the way, one day we will all hear about a girl named Bailey that will be a GM of a baseball team. And that's Tom's daughter, but hang tight till that happens. So for the first time in 32 years, MLB owners have formally proposed a salary cap, setting the stage for what could become the sport's most serious labor conflict since 1994, strike that canceled the World Series with the current collective bargaining agreement expiring shortly after the 2026 World Series. Many expect a lockout and a potentially ugly showdown over baseball's economic future. Owners say competitive balance is broken. MLB argues that the gap between the rich and the poor teams have become too large. The Dodgers are spending roughly $420 million on payroll, while the Marlins are spending $80 million.
The League's proposal would cap payrolls at $243 million and create a salary floor of $172 million, which means the 80 goes up 90 The 420 would need to come down 180, give or take. Eight teams would need to reduce spending by combined $578 million, while 12 lower spending teams would need to increase payroll by around $617 million.
League spokesperson Glenn Kaplan said, too many fans in too many markets have too little hope. Their teams have a fair chance. Player seed has a money grab. The MLB Players Association has a post salary cap for generations and views. The proposal has an attempt to suppress player salaries rather than improve competition. Our union has never been broken, never will be the MLBBA. Director Bruce Meyer said the union argues that successful small market teams like Brewers, Guardians and Rays prove that their spending is not the only path to winning, while wealthy clubs like the Mets and the Angels have often underperformed. Tom?

**Tom** (2:20)
So I believe in a salary floor.
I do.
People say that's socialism. Well, not really. Because the modern contracts for digital transmission, digital rights and television have given small markets, almost like owning the team is a free ticket to a multi-million dollar payday every year.
And that, if you look at the history of the stadium, there is a tax incentive somewhere, and that was paid for by the people.
So that medallion, that franchise in some city, and let's just use Miami as an example, because we're sitting here.
You have a stadium down there, you've got people down there, and the city has made tax concessions. And I like the salary floor, which says you have to spend the money on it. Now, why do I like the floor? In days gone by, people would say I'm a small market team. I can't put $40,000 a night in my stadium, the way Yankees, Cubs and Dodgers do. I don't have those markets. And that used to be a fair statement. But now, sharing in the digital distribution and the TV contracts, it's the great equalizer. So everybody's got money. So I believe in the floor. Now in terms of a cap, I don't believe in a cap, but I do believe in a tax and an equalization payment, which is what they have now. Because otherwise, you could have the uber wealthy, like the Dodgers or the Yankees, and even the Mets, Steve Cohen knows how to do this too, that are going to just overspend and take up all the good players. There needs to be an equalization payment. Because the equalization payment says, you want to overpay for Shohei Ohtani? Great. Now you spend the money around, and now everybody else has the ability to compete for the other free agents. So I agree with that. I also think they need to take a cue from other sports where the negotiation was what percent of revenue goes to the players and that that's been negotiated in other sports. So I think now that's all my opinions. But you know what's about to happen, Pat? We're about to have a lockout and we're about to have an arm wrestling match, and we're all going to go tumbling down a flight of stairs on this. And I hate it. I think that's what's going to happen. It's going to lead to a work stoppage. There's going to be fire and brimstone.