Bob Nightengale talks MLB Finances and Future Labor Deal

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00:00So, let's talk about the Dodgers and money.

00:04A lot of people are offended by the amount of players that they're signing legally and

00:12the money they're spending, which they're allowed to do, and no one else can keep pace

00:19with them.

00:20We had a conversation today already on this show about the Pirates payroll and how nutting

00:27is actually making money off of the TV deals and baseball revenue, and he's keeping all

00:33the money and not spending it on players.

00:36He's just keeping the money.

00:37That's why he won't sell the team.

00:40And that no one's selling their baseball teams these days because of that same reason.

00:46Are we close to turmoil in baseball and another strike based on the haves and have nots?

00:56I think we're looking toward that two years from now.

00:58That's when the labor deal runs out in December of 2026.

01:03I think the owner is going to push very, very hard for a salary cap.

01:07They've tried before.

01:09You know, haven't got anywhere.

01:10And they'll say, hey, we want a floor, too.

01:12But I think people are very upset with what's going on with the Dodgers.

01:16At first, it was Steve Cole and the Mets, and now it's all the Dodgers.

01:20Let's put it this way.

01:21The Dodgers make more money than anybody, and they make about $380 million a year

01:26just off their local TV contract.

01:28Ohtani brings in a fortune, so they can spend whatever they want.

01:32They still make money.

01:33Where the Mets last year lost about over $300 million, but Steve Cole can afford it.

01:39So a lot of owners say, hey, we don't want to lose money.

01:41We don't want to make it either.

01:42But no one really, you know, has a hard time believing it like,

01:45you're making some money here.

01:47And yeah, teams that get the revenue sharing money, whether it's Pittsburgh,

01:51Oakland, some of these small market teams, they're not spending it.

01:55Oakland's finally forced to.

01:57Gave them $100 million because the player association was cracking down on them.

02:00At some point, I think they're going to start cracking down on Pittsburgh too.

02:04It's like, hey, let's start spending this money.

02:06So my friend Hacksaw Hamilton in San Diego reported that the Padres have

02:12financial problems.

02:13Is that true?

02:16Well, remember they had to get a loan last year in September to cover payroll.

02:21So they're not going to have payroll.

02:23They're going to try to keep it the same way.

02:27What the big fear is, a year from now, those contracts become bloated.

02:31All of a sudden, they escalate, whether it's Bernardo Tatis,

02:35Manny Machado, Xander Bogarts.

02:37So a little bit of a money crunch.

02:39And they're maxed out, attendance-wise.

02:41They sell out just about every game.

02:43So they got to be a little careful.

02:45Their payroll got too high for them, and now they got to, you know,

02:47bring it down at least below the leisure tax level.

02:50So they're going to have to trade some of those star players.

02:55Well, some of them are unmovable.

02:57I mean, no one's going to pick up those contracts.

02:59I think Tatis, with what Soto got and everything else, I think he's movable.

03:04I don't think it's going to, it's not going to happen now.

03:06But a year from now, if they don't make the playoffs or everything else,

03:09I think I could see it happening.

03:11But they have so much big star power there, the big contracts.

03:15And this is a big year for them because they're going to lose a couple of free

03:18agents at the end of the year.

03:19You know, Michael King's a free agent.

03:21Dylan Cease is a free agent.

03:22So if they don't win this year, watch out.

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