Rob Manfred blames system, not dodgers, of payroll disparity

Commissioner Rob Manfred says that the system, not Los Angeles Dodgers, is the culprit of disparity in the payrolls of major league equipment

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Phoenix, Arizona – Commissioner of the Major Leagues baseball, Rob Manfred, described the disparity in the roster Like one main concern throughout the industrybut not necessarily committed still salary cap Like a central point of the previous negotiations to the expiration of the agreement of Collective bargaining.

Los Angeles Dodgers They have fueled the concerns about the disparity in the payroll with their expenses during the last two low seasons, during which they signed five players with nine -digit contracts -Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snelll, Will Smith and Tyler Glasnow, the last two by virtue of extensions.

On Tuesday, during an event for the media during spring training, Manfred reiterated his previous comments and said that the Dodgers “have done their best, always within the rules that currently exist, to put the best possible equipment in the field , and I think that is great for the game. ” But he acknowledged that fans and owners have expressed concern about their ability to economically overcome other teams.

According to Spotrac, the dodgers payroll, based on competitive balance and taxes, is currently estimated at about 392 million dollars, well above the highest threshold. Only the New York Mets, in a second place with approximately 321 million dollars, have reached 300 million. And although the out -of -season spending has reached 4.6 billion dollars, the Dodgers and Mets have represented almost a quarter of that total. Meanwhile, eight teams spent 50 million dollars or less this winter.

“The disparity should be, and it certainly is, in the top of my list of concerns about what is happening in sport,” said Manfred. “When I say that I cannot criticize the Dodgers, they are doing what the system allows them. If I am going to criticize someone, they will not be the Dodgers, it will be the system. ”

It has often compared the current Dodgers with the New York Yankees teams of the 2000 star. But Manfred said that these Dodgers are “probably more profitable in percentage terms than the old Yankees teams, which means that they could be more sustainable, so it is a major problem.”

In addition to living in an important market and having won the World Series, Dodgers have a regional cable contract that pays them about 334 million dollars per year at a time when the equipment continues to breach their contracts with local media. They also greatly benefit from Ohtani, which postponed $ 680 million from its 700 million contract and has obtained huge revenue flows from Japan. The Dodgers have responded by investing the additional money in their workforce, which has made the owners of large markets such as the Yankees and the Chicago Cubs complain about their inability to keep up with the rhythm.

All this has served to put in the foreground the desire of the MLB to establish a salary stop. Since the MLB players association has been inflexible in that it would never accept a salary stop, it has also generated a generalized concern about a employer or work stoppage after the current collective agreement expires in December 2026. He hopes that both parties begin the negotiations with one year in advance, and the disparity in the payroll, strongly linked to the fading of the traditional cable model and the Hopes of the MLB of incorporating a national umbrella into local media, will undoubtedly become a hot topic.

“I will not go into details about the answer,” Manfred said when asked if he would look for a salary stop in the next round of negotiations. “We are a year away. I have very firm owners that I need to unite in a position that we will finally lead to the MLBPA. I do not think that starting that debate publicly is a good start. Whatever we decide, we will present it in the collective bargaining process and try to handle it privately to reach an agreement ”.

Next, other outstanding aspects of the wide availability of Manfred for the media are presented, which lasted almost half an hour.

• Manfred recently visited the Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California, which will house the Athletics for at least the next three years, and said that the level of enthusiasm within the community for a major leagues team is “palpable.” He added that the schedule for the new Baseball Stadium of the A’s in Las Vegas has not changed. “I think we will arrive on time to go in 2028,” said Manfred.

• Manfred believes that Chicago Cubs would be a “good host” for the star game, which has not been held at the Wrigley Field since 1990, but did not say if there has been any progress in conversations with city officials about the closure From the streets around the baseball stadium for the event, which the MLB and the CUBS consider a previous requirement. The Cubs are pressing to house the game of stars as soon as in 2027, the next date available.

• Manfred reiterated his belief that a separate draft is the best remedy to clean part of corruption that occurs in the international market, particularly in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, where previous agreements, the use of steroids and the age fraud have been I return especially frequent in recent years. “The transparency of a draft, the inability to make secret agreements because it is not known who will recruit who is really the best systemic approach,” said Manfred.

• Manfred described the loss of agreements with local media as a “temporary” problem that believes that it will eventually affect all teams, even the clubs of large markets with contracts that are currently insured. He added that the problem will not be approached significantly until, at least, after the 2028 season, when the leading national agreements of the MLB expire.

“I think baseball needs to modify its approach before those negotiations,” said Manfred. “I think we need greater central control over all rights, whether traditionally considered national or local, and we should make an effort to make our product more national, because those national games are worth much more than the games that are sold only in the local market ”.