MLB 2023 Offseason

Major League Baseball has picked a direction and doubled down on it this offseason.

Look at the free agent signings this winter:

- Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers for a ten year contract with $700 million

- Yoshinobu Yamamoto also signed with the Dodgers for a 12 year contract worth $325 million

- Aaron Nola signed a 7 year contract with $172 million, but for the Philadelphia Phillies

The $700,000,000.00 man

So the 2024 baseball salaries  have six teams with a payroll of over $194 million... and seven teams with a payroll of under $71 million.  The payroll disparity between the teams with the highest salaries and the lowest salaries have never been higher.

Baseball could do something about this- put in a salary cap and floor, change the free agent structure, create revenue sharing on the local tv contracts.  It might be difficult getting it past the Union, but it's feasible.  Baseball has chosen not to do so.  They want the biggest markets to spend as much as possible.

To avoid having the fans of the smaller markets (with lower payrolls) give up entirely, they've increased the number of teams in the playoffs- so there's a chance the small market teams like Tampa or Kansas City could make the playoffs and get hot.  The larger markets- the Yankees and the Dodgers- will be in the playoffs almost every year.  But the smaller markets might get in, and once the playoffs start... who knows?

I used to get upset about- and as a fan of the Cleveland Guardians, it bothers me that the team I root for is priced out of the free agent market.  But this is the system major league baseball wants.  I can either stop being a fan or accept it.  I'm nowhere near the baseball fan I used to be, but I still follow the sport for the moment.

My big question is this; I know this is what baseball wants- but is it good for the sport to have such a huge disparity?

There was a similar period in baseball before.  Look at these World Series:

• 1958: New York Yankees def. Milwaukee Braves
• 1957: Milwaukee Braves def. New York Yankees
• 1956: New York Yankees def. Brooklyn Dodgers
• 1955: Brooklyn Dodgers def. New York Yankees
• 1954: New York Giants def. Cleveland Indians
• 1953: New York Yankees def. Brooklyn Dodgers
• 1952: New York Yankees def. Brooklyn Dodgers
• 1951: New York Yankees def. New York Giants
• 1950: New York Yankees def. Philadelphia Phillies
• 1949: New York Yankees def. Brooklyn Dodgers

In a ten year period, three teams took up 17 of the 20 spots in the World Series.  If you were a fan of the Yankees, Dodgers, or Giants, this was an awesome era of baseball.  If you rooted for any other team... was this fun?  

I'm not upset about this decision.  But it is a decision by baseball to encourage a few superteams.  They seem to think this is a good thing for the sport.  

I remain skeptical.