Mark Walter alludes to support of a salary cap as Dodgers roll through Opening Day

Baseball has returned to Dodger Stadium, even with a new name for the field itself, but the hope is that the attention shifts from how the Los Angeles Dodgers are ruining baseball to what is actually taking place on the field. The problem is that there is a looming work stoppage after this season when the current CBA expires, and the Dodgers are going to be at the center of that discussion.

So even with the Dodgers celebrating their World Series victory ahead of their Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night, the question was bound to come up: where does the team stand on the issues at hand?

At the center of the CBA talks will be the potential inclusion of a salary cap. The problem with that idea is that it's telling teams how much they can spend, not how much they have to spend. With that in mind, there's also been some speculation about a salary floor being installed. In other words, teams have to spend X amount of dollars each year.

Regardless of how spending looks after a new CBA is agreed to, there shouldn't be much that changes with how the Dodgers operate. Sure, they may not spend to the degree they currently are, but there shouldn't be a monumental change to their books.

With that in mind, that may be the reason why Dodgers owner Mark Walter is not opposed to a salary cap. Speaking with the LA Times' Bill Shaikin, Walter stressed that baseball needs parity and that it starts with money.

Mark Walter just added fuel to salary cap debate around Dodgers

Nothing Walter said is categorically wrong. Money certainly has helped the Dodgers become the modern-day version of the evil empire, and baseball has taken an issue that LA is winning all the time. Along those lines, yes, there's an argument to be made that parity is needed in baseball. Again, all things that can't really be debated.

The larger problem, and why the work stoppage could be quite lengthy, is that it's easier said than done. There remain owners across baseball who are willing to find the faults in everything but their spending.

That's where motivation comes into play. The Pittsburgh Pirates easily flipped the switch with spending this offseason, when there was a thought that a grievance could be filed against them. Out of nowhere, since the end of the 2025 season, between free agents and extensions, the Chicago Cubs have spent the most of any team in baseball.

One smaller and one larger example that problem isn't just money or a need for parity, but a desire to expect more from owners. Perhaps Walter gets that and didn't want to throw his peers under the bus, but as for a salary cap, it can only solve so much.