Major League Baseball (MLB) opened up the 2026 season with spring training on Feb. 20. The arrival of the new season has raised concerns for teams and their players’ salaries. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the World Series in 2025, have been using large budgets to expand their rosters.
Fans are worried that the Dodgers’ unfair advantages with these players will lead to an inevitable championship and a possible lockout.
There is also potential for a lockout during the 2026 season. A lockout is a freeze on signings and transactions. It is initiated by team owners when a salary agreement expires without a new deal being agreed upon. A lockout would also halt gameplay because players are not allowed to use team facilities or have contact with their coaches. The last lockout occurred in December 2021 and did not end until March 2022. It caused teams to miss spring training games and delayed opening day.
“I think [a lockout] will happen at the start of next year,” San Marin High School senior and varsity baseball player Hunter Uriarte said.
Currently, the MLB does not have a salary cap or floor for its teams. This means that a hard limit does not exist for the team’s spending on player salaries. The league does have a Competitive Balance Tax, which penalizes teams with taxes if they exceed a certain amount.
On Jan. 21, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract. A free agent is a player who is in the league but not a part of a team and is open to negotiating with any of the 30 teams.
Tucker adds to a team that is already stacked with highly skilled players. For example, pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, who is the first and only MLB player to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases. The Dodgers had seven free agents for their World Series run last year. Fans of the MLB are concerned about the talent gap between the Dodgers and the other teams in the league.
“The Dodgers have too much money, so they are basically buying players off of other teams,” San Marin High School senior and varsity baseball player Matthew Baldino said.
The Dodgers’ total payroll spending in the 2025 season exceeded $500 million, including the luxury tax. This payroll is much higher than the total spending of any other team, the second highest being the New York Mets with $368 million. Another worry fans have is that the team is spending excessive amounts of money on already talented players when teams have historically built talent as players go so that they can grow with the team.
Two months into the season, the Dodgers’ roster looks like one of the strongest in the league.
“[The Dodgers] have a huge advantage over everyone else. There are only a few teams now that can compete with them,” Baldino said.
The MLB’s current agreement is ending in December 2026. This will allow people to argue for a hard salary cap and floor.
