Money was on everyone's mind over this past MLB offseason. The New York Mets signed outfielder Juan Soto to a record 15-year, $765 million contract. The New York Yankees signed Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal, the largest ever given out to a left-handed pitcher. And the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped a cool $450 million on talent, from lefty Blake Snell to outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and Michael Conforto to relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates —not to mention 24-year-old phenom Roki Sasaki.
All of which created some hurt feelings around the league. Smaller-market teams were ready to throw up their hands, wondering how they could possibly compete with all that financial might. Fans were convinced that the Dodgers had broken the sport for good. Things even got so dire that some around the league even felt compelled to utter those two dreaded words: salary cap, threatening to finally drag baseball in line with North America's other major sports.
A month into the 2025 season, that debate shows no sign of slowing down, as MLB's bottom-feeders sport some truly horrendous records while commissioner Rob Manfred openly flirts with a work stoppage in a year's time. And it could get even louder after this week, when one series in particular puts the gap between the haves and the have-nots on stark display.
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Dodgers-Marlins series shows just how out-of-whack MLB's financial picture has become
The Miami Marlins wrap up a brief West Coast swing with three games at Dodger Stadium beginning on Monday night. And by the numbers at least, things could get ugly: Miami comes in at 12-15, last place in the NL East; L.A., meanwhile, trails the San Francisco Giants by a half-game in the rugged NL West at 18-10. The Marlins' payroll, after an offseason in which they opted to do more or less nothing, stands as the lowest in baseball at $69.1 million. The Dodgers? $476.5 million: $325.9 million in salary, $150.7 million in competitive balance tax payments.
Yes, you read that right: These two teams are separate by more than $400 million. Because baseball is baseball, there's always a chance that Miami takes a game or even two and sticks a thumb in the eye of the establishment. More likely, though, is that the Dodgers roll, because they're a much more talented team.
Not that that's Los Angeles' fault, mind you. They're spending money in accordance with the rules, and while not every team can boast the one-man financial windfall that is Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers didn't force the Marlins to run a payroll that would've ranked them in the middle of the pack a full 20 years ago. (That's not an exaggeration: The Detroit Tigers ranked 14th in the league in 2005 with a payroll of $69.09 million.)
Still, the fact remains that, unless something dramatically changes, baseball's economy is broken, and that fracture will be on full display across the last three nights. A respectable showing from the Marlins would likely keep a lid on things for at least a little while longer. If the Dodgers make things ugly, though, expect this to become a flashpoint in the fight to rein in big spenders.