Baseball's Postseason Conundrum

According to MLB owners, the Dodgers will win every World Series from now until the end of time and small market teams have "no chance" to compete.  That's why, in their opinion, the sport "needs" a salary cap and why they'll be locking out the players on Dec. 1.  So, we'd better enjoy this postseason while we can.  Because who knows when the 2027 season will actually start?  Or if there will even be one at all.

This postseason presents a very interesting catch-22 for the owners' position, though.  Their argument is that the Dodgers, Yankees and other large market, big-spending teams are "ruining" baseball.  But they're also most likely secretly rooting for a Dodgers-Yankees World Series.  Why?  Because it'll support their narrative.  And because they know it'll generate high ratings from two of the largest, most loyal fanbases in the sport.

Meanwhile, the Rays and Brewers are the top seeds in their respective leagues.  It's very plausible that we could see Tampa Bay, Milwaukee or both in the World Series.  Which is exactly what the other 28 owners don't want.  Because not only is it two small markets, it's two teams that they fear people won't want to watch.  So, just imagine how low the ratings could be if they're both in the World Series!

That, right there, exposes the hypocrisy of the owners' general stance.  Teams like the Dodgers and Yankees are "bad" and represent everything "wrong" with baseball when it suits the narrative.  But, as a whole, they don't actually when the Dodgers and Yankees are doing well.  Because that means more money is coming in.  Which means more money is going into their pockets.

So, which is it?  Are the Dodgers and Yankees good for baseball?  Or are they bad?  Because you can't have it both ways!  Likewise, do you actually want to see someone different in the World Series (as you claim)?  Or would that ruin your narrative?

Likewise, many "fans" face a similar dilemma.  The "baseball needs a salary cap" camp should, theoretically, want to see a Brewers-Rays World Series.  But they probably don't.  Because it goes against their narrative.  And it would be a World Series that "nobody" would watch.  So, do you actually want to see the small market teams in the World Series or not?

The Dodgers and Yankees are the obvious targets for the haters because they're the two behemoths, but the Braves and Padres also have top 10 payrolls.  Will it still be a "problem" if either of them wins the NL pennant?  And, the White Sox may play in Chicago, but they actually have a bottom third payroll.  I pose the same question about them.  Would their winning the AL pennant expose "everything that's wrong" with baseball?  Or would it be what it actually is--an incredible story of a team going from three straight 100-loss seasons to the World Series in the fourth year?

You know something else?  Of the eight remaining teams, three have never won the World Series.  One (Cleveland) hasn't won it in nearly 80 years.  The White Sox won the title 20 years ago.  It's their only one in the last 110 years.  The Yankees' 2009 title is their only one in 25 years.  So, it's only the Dodgers and Braves who've won the World Series anything close to recently among this year's remaining playoff participants.  But don't tell that to those who want to believe everybody else "can't compete."

Of course, the Brewers have been bucking that narrative for the better part of a decade as it is.  And they've actually helped feed into that narrative with their failure to advance beyond the NLCS during that span.  Last year, they got absolutely destroyed by the Dodgers in an NLC sweep.  Which just added fuel to the "it's inevitable the Dodgers will win" narrative (the fact that the Dodgers came very close to losing to the Blue Jays is apparently irrelevant).  So, Milwaukee "can't" win the NL pennant.  Otherwise, it would completely contradict their argument.

Same thing with the Rays.  They "can't" win.  Because who wants a small market success story when you can use the Yankees as your example of how the large market big spenders are "ruining" the game?  And, oh, by the way, Cleveland plays in a small market, too.  It's very possible that there could be three small market teams among the four LCS participants.  None of which will matter to the salary cap brigade if the Dodgers are the fourth one.  And it really won't matter if the Dodgers three-peat (which no team has done since the 1998-2000 Yankees).  Which would actually be a pretty great story, too.

As I've been saying all along, my position on whether baseball "needs" a salary cap or not has nothing to do with what team I support.  It has everything to do with the fact that the narrative the owners are pushing and have gotten so many people to believe simply isn't true.  Large-market franchises do have some built-in advantages.  I'm not denying that.  But to say small-market clubs "can't compete" isn't even close to accurate. 

Well-run teams with smart front offices like the Brewers, Guardians and Rays are proof that it can be done.  And they do it consistently, too.  So, it's not like they're randomly good for a year or two before fading back into irrelevance.  The fact that they haven't won the World Series is the only reason that narrative even exists.  But, again, if one of them were to win the World Series (or, God forbid, Milwaukee faces either Tampa Bay or Cleveland in the World Series, the owners wouldn't like that either.  They don't want to admit it, but the owners actually don't have a problem with the Dodgers' recent run.  For multiple reasons.

If that sounds cynical, that's the point.  The owners are contradicting themselves with their insistence on a salary cap for "competitive balance" while also enjoying the financial spoils that come with the postseason success of large market clubs.  Which is it?  Are you tired of seeing the Dodgers win?  Or do you like the revenue that they bring into the game?  Do you want to see the Brewers and/or Rays reach the World Series?  Or would that go against the entire argument you're trying to make and starting a work stoppage over?

No owner will admit this, of course.  They're so dug into their position that they either don't see or conveniently ignore this contradiction.  But it's actually pretty transparent.  Only the Dodgers and/or Yankees (or, to a lesser extent, the Braves) winning the World Series "proves" their point.  Which is why that's exactly what they want to happen.  That way they get the best of both worlds.  Raking in the money while still being able to play the victim.  It would be a win-win.  Right before they make everyone who loves baseball lose.