The Dodgers are yet again leading the projected 2026 MLB payroll list with a staggering $416 million. The Mets are in second at $317 million. After that, there’s a steep drop-off. The Padres rank sixth at $268 million, and the gap only widens from there. In fact, teams below San Diego are operating with just a fraction of what the Dodgers are spending overall. There is chatter around the disparity and the need to implement a salary cap.

The Dodgers’ estimated luxury-tax bill alone for next season is expected to exceed $161 million. And that’s more than the entire payroll of the Marlins, Rays, Guardians, White Sox, Twins, Pirates, Nationals, Cardinals, Rockies, Athletics, Reds, and Brewers!

Amid all these, superagent Scott Boras wants to hold teams accountable for not spending enough!

“It’s very clear in today’s game that every club can afford one or two major free agents… You are rewarded based on your performance, and you’re also penalized based on your performance. We need to bring that to sport. We need rewards for winning,” Boras shared his thoughts via Foul Territory.

According to Boras, the focus should be less on penalizing teams that are spending aggressively to win and more on accountability for the ones that aren’t spending enough to compete. He believes MLB’s current revenue-sharing system needs a serious rethink.

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MLB’s revenue sharing works by pooling 48% of each team’s local net revenue and redistributing it evenly among all 30 clubs. The idea is to promote competitive balance by supporting small-market and lower-revenue teams. In reality, though, the big spenders end up contributing the most to the pool.

But teams at the lower end of the payroll spectrum receive the largest shares.

Take the Marlins as an example.

They’re projected to have the lowest payroll in baseball in 2026 at roughly $77.7 million. The story was the same last year, where they spent just 27% of their total revenue on player salaries.

Per Boras, it is a lack of willingness and not money that stops these teams from signing big-ticket names.

He further added that if teams are using their revenue-sharing money efficiently for roster building, they should at least be able to afford a couple of marquee players. But as they’re not doing enough despite receiving that financial support, they should have a smaller share of the revenue.

Now, that’s where the Dodgers and Mets come in as a contrast!

The Dodgers, even after winning back-to-back World Series, are still pushing their payroll higher to field an even stronger contender. The Mets, meanwhile, didn’t get the results they hoped for after spending big last year, including the massive $765 million deal for Juan Soto. But instead of pulling back, they maintained their payroll between $346 million last year and $317 million in 2026.

To Boras, that mindset is the ideal model: stay aggressive, keep investing, and keep trying to win.

This would ultimately make MLB more competitive and healthier.

For instance, the Dodgers are currently the only team outside the Yankees to crack Forbes’ list of the 20 most valuable sports teams in the world. That’s surely a huge milestone for the league.

Yet, not every franchise seems willing to follow that same path, except for the Pirates!

The Pirates might be the one meeting Boras’ Dodgers benchmark

Pirates owner Bob Nutting has long been criticized for not spending enough on roster development. In recent years, the organization has also taken heat for failing to build enough talent around Paul Skenes. Insiders accused the front office of prioritizing profitability over winning.

Last year, MLB insider Jeff Passan pointed out that Nutting is “seen as somebody who has a passionate fan base, who has arguably the most beautiful stadium in Major League Baseball and completely wastes it.”

However, there are signs that things may be starting to shift in Pittsburgh!

The Pirates appear to be inching their payroll upward, projected to land around $110 million this season, up from roughly $105 million last year.

While it’s still early and the increase is modest, it does push back against the common belief that small-market teams simply refuse to spend. Signings like Ryan O’Hearn signal a willingness to invest more in the roster, which is a welcome change for the fan base.

Exactly the kind of league-wide commitment Boras has been advocating for.