The Los Angeles Dodgers have officially won the 2025 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games.

The last team to win back-to-back World Series was the New York Yankees. They are the first team in MLB to go back-to-back since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees dynasty. They are also one of the most paid teams in MLB, with a massive 2025 payroll of $321 million. That is half of the payroll of the entire AL Central, which rounds out to about $600 million. The Blue Jays are also in the top five in MLB’s highest payrolls with $240 million.

Of the big four North American sports leagues (NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB), all have salary caps except MLB. For example, the NFL salary cap is $279 million.

There is a desperate need for MLB to implement a salary cap for the sake of competition. How can lower-salary teams such as the Miami Marlins ($67 million) be expected to compete with financial monsters in the NL East like the Philadelphia Phillies ($284 million) and the New York Mets ($323 million)?

The Dodgers that performed best in the series were two-way player Shohei Ohtani and starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Ohtani had three home runs, five RBIs, six runs and nine hits in the World Series. Yamamoto won World Series MVP with his immaculate performance. He appeared in three games, pitching 17.2 innings, even pitching a complete game in Game 2 with an ERA of 1.57.

Both Ohtani and Yamamoto have extremely lucrative contracts. Ohtani has a 10-year contract for $700 million, the second highest in sports. Yamamoto also has a long-tenured contract, with 12 years and $325 million.

I am not trying to dock the Dodgers’ performance in the postseason whatsoever. The team worked and fought hard, and they deserved their win. They did not “buy their way” into the World Series like I’ve seen many people say. In fact, the Mets spent more money in payroll than the Dodgers this year (largely thanks to Juan Soto’s record 15-year, $765 million contract), and they did not even make the playoffs. It is just unlikely for low-payroll teams to compete with such behemoths.

There is also a need for a salary floor to force owners to actively spend money if they are not. Owner of the White Sox Jerry Reinsdorf is a billionaire, yet the Sox are one of the lowest-paid teams in the league. They also finished bottom in the AL Central with 60 wins and 102 losses.

The MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in December 2026. There is a very high possibility of a lockout, and with how serious the conversation of a salary cap is, there is a real chance we do not see the MLB in 2027. A salary cap is a modern expectation for leagues, and MLB needs to adapt.