ERAs and batting averages don’t convey the whole story. Add millions of dollars, and you’ve got something. While some teams open their wallets wide, others hardly take a peek. MLB Commissioner pointed out the exact mismatch on Tuesday. He also talked about this one club in particular, dealing with that issue.

The data make it quite clear that baseball has a two-tier system. The average total payroll for all MLB teams in 2025 is $173,057,235. However, several teams have payrolls of less than $100 million. And those $765, $700, and $500 million contracts just made the picture clearer that there isn’t enough balance. And MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred knows this.

Manfred talked to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday. He addressed this very concern, as reported by FRONT OFFICE SPORTS, that the top 10% of the highest-paid MLB players get about 75% of all compensation. This uneven distribution is bad news for teams at the bottom. He directly addressed the challenges faced by low-spending teams, such as the Pittsburgh Pirates, stating, “We need to deal with that issue.” But why the Pirates?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are only spending roughly $89 million on Opening Day. In comparison, teams like the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees are each spending more than $290 million. And look at the Pirates’ best players, Mitch Keller ($15 million), Bryan Reynolds ($12 million), and Paul Skenes ($8.75 million) in comparison to what Soto, Ohtani, Judge, and Vladdy Jr. are getting. The solution? Salary Cap.

On Tuesday, he said, “When I talk to players, I don’t try to convince them that a salary-cap system would be a good thing. I identify a problem in the media business and explain [to players] that owners need to change to address that problem. I then identify a second problem that we need to work together on, and that is, there are fans in a lot of our markets who feel like we have a competitive balance problem.”

Even during the All-Star game 2025 on the Pat McAfee Show, he talked about these fans. He emphasized to the Pirates fans and said, “Pittsburgh is a great sports town. There are tons and tons of really passionate Pirates fans who remember when the Pirates were a great, great team year in and year out. They just want to look at the system and say we got a fair chance to win.”

This is a fact that if the team payroll is not even $100M it gets difficult to sign good players. And what follows? Losses! And chants like “Sell the team” from the stands. So, while the MLB Commissioner is trying to bring out the balance by thinking of introducing a salary cap, MLBPA is saying this is nothing but “institutionalized collusion.”

MLBPA pushes back: Salary cap called ‘Collusion’ as players demand real competition

Looks like MLBPA is not happy with the solution MLB Commissioner is going for. Bruce Meyer, the deputy director of the MLBPA, stirred up Pirates fans and other small-market team supporters. On the Foul Territory podcast, he said that Commissioner Rob Manfred is pushing hard for a pay cap. But Meyer stressed that players “have the right amount of skepticism.” He said that the union isn’t sure, especially because owners are putting more pressure on them and threatening to lock them out.

Evan Drellich added to that fire. He pointed out that while team owners seem to desire both a cap and a floor, “players want a salary floor, but owners are not willing to give up a floor without a cap.”

Meyer called the whole idea “wrong” and told both fans and players that “competition is crucial for us, crucial for players. Our market system … relies on competition.”

Even Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLBPA, didn’t hold back when he called it “institutionalized collusion” and said, “This is not about competitive balance.” That was his remark during the All-Star game.

For Pirates fans, this is a sign of a bigger fight. The push for a fairer playing field with genuine money going into their team. The union is fighting back, saying that the answer isn’t a cap but better distribution of funds and real competition, without reducing how much players may make.