Rob Manfred’s recent commitment could provide a glimmer of hope for the Pirates

MLB is the only North American major professional sports league that does not have some form of salary cap or floor. However, with collective barganing agreement negotiations just around the corner in 2026-2027, talks of a salary cap and salary floor have resurfaced.

But recent comments by the MLB Players Association's deputy director Bruce Meyer during the "Foul Territory" podcast could shine a glimmer of hope for Pittsburgh Pirates fans, as well as fans of teams similarly frustrated with ownership who want to see a more competitive league.

According to Meyer, MLB's comissioner Rob Manfred is attempting to make a push for a salary cap. However, players "have the right amount of skepticism." While Manfred and MLB owners suggest this is a good thing for the players, the Players Association isn't exactly on the same page, given the significant push from the commissioner and the threat of a lockout to get it.

Evan Drellich also stated that while Manfred and the owners haven't chosen a course of action just yet, their arguments seem to point toward a salary cap. "Players want a salary floor, but owners are not willing to give up a floor without a cap."

Meyer calls the entire premise "wrong," and tells fans of small market teams that "competition is crucial for us, crucial for players. Our market system that we have, it’s not perfect by any means, but it relies on competition."

Meyer also used the Pirates as an example, stating, "To the extent we have teams that are unwilling to compete, it's not because the Dodgers went out and signed some players. That doesn't explain why the Pittsburgh Pirates, for example, don't go out and spend money."

Could MLB salary cap/floor force Pirates to become relevant?

Meyer is arguably right in this regard. The Dodgers spending a ton on Shohei Ohtani and friends is not the reason why the Pirates are bad. Pittsburgh had similar 2024 revenue as teams with significantly higher 2025 Opening Day payrolls, like the Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, and especially the Detroit Tigers.

However, while baseball hasn't had a repeat World Series winner since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees, and payroll explains about 15% of variance to team wins in the regular season, according to Eno Sarris. Winning it all almost always requires a high payroll. The last three World Series winners that weren't in the top half of payroll were the 2015 Kansas City Royals, the 2003 Florida Marlins, and the 1991 Minnesota Twins. Among the Pirates, Twins, D-Backs, and Tigers, only Arizona is in the top half of payroll at 14th.

Teams are also struggling to keep up with the top teams in terms of revenue. Last year, the Dodgers made $752 million in revenue, the most in baseball. The difference between the Dodgers' revenue, and the fifth highest revenue in the league — the Philadelphia Phillies at $519 million — is about the same difference as the fifth-place Phillies and the 29th-place Chicago White Sox at $277 million. The Pirates' revenue could be double of what it was last year at $326 million, and they'd still be about $100 million short of the Dodgers.

Meyer went on to say "I think we got reasonable people on both sides." Yeah, we surely hope that's the case.