As the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate another World Series win with a payroll three times larger than Cleveland’s, fans are left wondering if the Guardians could ever get a title. With Major League Baseball and the players’ union set to begin contract negotiations early next year, Ideastream Public Media’s sports commentator Terry Pluto says baseball’s lack of a salary cap keeps small-market teams at a disadvantage.
According to Spotrac, the Dodgers led the MLB in payroll in 2025 at $350 million. The Guardians, meanwhile, ranked 25th among the 30 teams with a $100 million payroll. Cleveland staged a late-season surge to make the postseason but lost in a Wild Card series against Detroit.
Pluto said that most World Series champions are among the teams with the highest payrolls.
“You don't find too many of the teams out of the top 10 in payroll who actually won a World Series,” Pluto said. “It's only baseball where you hear the fans say, well, we're in Kansas City, we really have no chance, or we're Cleveland, we have no chance.”
Unlike the NFL, NBA, and NHL, Major League Baseball does not have a salary cap limiting how much teams can spend on players. Pluto said that creates a perception of hopelessness for small-market clubs.
“For example, in the NFL, nobody ever, when the NFL season began, says, well, Cleveland can't compete,” Pluto said. “You know why the Browns don't win? It's not because they lack the money or anything else. It's just they do a lousy job of picking players and coaches and putting it all together. It's not the system. You're just not doing it right.”
Pluto said that while the Guardians have been among baseball’s winningest teams, the lack of financial balance makes it difficult to compete for a championship.
“In the last 10 years, Cleveland is among the top five in winning games,” he said. “So, what's the problem? That's what (players) say. And there are also, among the baseball owners…like the Dodgers and the Yankees and that, they think the system’s fine.”
Major League Baseball owners are pushing for a salary cap as they head into negotiations on a new labor deal before the current agreement expires on Dec. 1, 2026. The outcome could determine whether the 2027 season begins on time.
Pluto believes a new system should include not just a salary cap for the biggest spenders but also a salary floor requiring all teams to spend a minimum amount.
“So that you don't have some teams where they just don't spend anything at all,” Pluto said.
He also suggested limiting the size and length of player contracts.
“In baseball, you see these contracts like (the New York Mets’) Francisco Lindor’s for $341 million over 10 years,” Pluto said. “What I like about the NBA is that they have something called a maximum contract for their stars. The longest deal is usually five years or sometimes four,” Pluto said.
Pluto said some baseball executives agree that these long-term contracts are part of the problem.
“When you commit to a player for 10 or 12 years, you know that in the last four or five years of that contract, he’s probably not going to be a very good player, and all that money is gone.”
For Pluto, the issue isn’t just about contracts. It’s about fairness and the future of the sport.
“It makes a better thing too, just for your fan base,” he said. “You get out of the, ‘Oh, those owners are cheap or they won't spend.’ You get to the heart of the matter, and that's how it ought to be in sports.”
