Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says he'd be 'all right' with MLB salary cap after record $415 million payroll

MLB next collective bargaining agreement negotiations are still a year away from needing to be done, but it's been made very clear that the biggest topic of conversation will be the potential imposition of a salary cap.

Fueling the arguments in favor of such a system is the presence of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who just won their second straight World Series with a payroll in the neighborhood of $400 million. You would imagine that few members of the Dodgers would want anything that could limit spending, but manager Dave Roberts had a surprising perspective on Wednesday.

Appearing on Prime's "Good Sports," Roberts was asked by host Kenan Thompson if baseball should have a salary cap. He didn't say yes, but he also said he'd be fine with the change:

“You know what? I’m all right with that. I think the NBA has done a nice job of revenue sharing with the players and the owners. But if you’re going to kind of suppress spending at the top, I think that you got to raise the floor to make those bottom-feeders spend money, too.”

That's the same man who, a month and a half ago, openly mocked detractors who said his team was "ruining baseball." He apparently also has some thoughts on the "bottom-feeders."

The suggestion of a salary floor in addition to a salary cap, as Roberts throws out, has been speculated as the compromise that could get players to consider the idea of a cap, which has been a non-starter in MLB labor negotiations going back to the advent of free agency. If the owners choose to dig in, it would make a labor stoppage a near certainty.

MLB remains the only major North American sports league to not have a salary cap. In 2025, CBT payrolls range from the Dodgers and New York Mets ($338 million) to the Chicago White Sox ($92 million) and Miami Marlins ($85 million).

When counting players who were just on the Dodgers' 40-man roster at the end of 2025, their payroll came in at $347 million, per Cot's Contracts. However, when adding in the factors that go into a CBT payroll, such as player benefits and salaries for players no longer on the roster, that number goes all the way up to $415 million, the largest in MLB history. They will pay about $167 million in just the luxury tax, meaning that, from a CBT standpoint, they just won a title that cost $582 million.

The team already has $320 million on the books for 2026, and is likely to add more given holes in its outfield and bullpen.

However, it's hardly a given that a salary cap would spell destruction for the L.A.'s current run, as it also possesses one of the most advanced player development pipelines in MLB and has a farm system considered to be one of the best in baseball. Roberts is well aware that if the Dodgers suddenly need to lean on young, cheap talent, they have the resources to do so. A salary cap would only remove one way the Dodgers are out-spending the competition.