New data proves Cleveland Guardians can spend more each offseason

As with most things in life, the reality lies somewhere in the middle. Do big market teams have a competitive advantage because of things like budget? Certainly.

Does the team with the largest payroll every year automatically win the World Series? No. And in fact, in the last quarter century, the World Series has repeatedly seen participants from small markets such as the Diamondbacks, Royals, Rays, and Cleveland.

With an impending lockout in 2027 looming, the reality is that the players will never agree to a leaguewide salary cap or floor (you can't have one without the other to ensure competitive balance). The latter being where most fans frustration comes in to play and here is why:

Looking at Cleveland for example, it makes sense to be frustrated when ownership is spending less than 40% of the revenue that they are bringing in, while simultaneously making the argument that owning a baseball team isn't a profitable business. The answer for Cleveland may be simple when ownership transitions in a year or two from the Dolans to minority owner David Blitzer.

What is portrayed in the tweet above, is the real issue in this whole salary cap battle, not a cap or a floor that is standard for all 30 teams, but rather teams spending portions of what they could in order to maximize profits for ownership. As much as fans want to believe owners want to win, at the end of the day they are businesspeople and it is always about the money.

One solution to this could be a creative solution that comes up during CBA negotiation such as a policy, something along the lines of requiring ownership to spend "x" percentage based on their yearly revenue or otherwise incur a severe financial penalty.or loss of draft picks. Regardless this will all need to be sorted out come winter 2027, or fans could see another lockout shortened campaign.