Copyright The Boston Globe
“Before this season started, they said the Dodgers are ruining baseball,” Roberts bellowed to the crowd at Dodger Stadium. “Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball!” But is there evidence to support the idea that the Dodgers are a reflection of a failed system, or that a cap would help address such a concern? The fact that the Dodgers are trying to become the first MLB team to win consecutive titles in the 21st century offers some indication of the state of the sport. It’s also worth noting that 16 of the 30 big league teams (53 percent) have won at least one title since 2000, while 22 of 30 (73 percent) have at least reached the World Series. How does that compare to the other major sports — which feature salary caps that were at least theoretically implemented in an effort to improve competitive balance? The NBA has had 12 different franchises (40 percent of the league’s 30 teams) win titles since 2000, with 17 (57 percent) reaching the NBA Finals. There have been four separate instances of teams winning at least two straight titles. The NFL has had 13 of its 32 franchises (41 percent) win the Super Bowl since 2000, with 21 teams (66 percent) reaching it. There have been two instances of back-to-back Super Bowl winners. The NHL has had 14 of its 32 teams (44 percent) win the Stanley Cup since 2000, though it has had the most teams reaching its sport’s championship round (24 teams in the Stanley Cup Final, 75 percent of the league) this century. There have been three repeat champions. Of course, the turn of the century is a somewhat arbitrary standard, and there have been changes to the Collective Bargaining Agreements of the four major sports that might make the “since 2000” standard too broad. So what about the last 10 years in each sport (excluding this year), a period that roughly encompasses the rise of the Dodgers as arguably one of the greatest teams of all time? From 2015-24, MLB had eight different champions and 14 different World Series participants. The NBA had eight different champions and 12 different Finals teams from 2015-16 through 2024-25. The NFL had six different champions and 10 Super Bowl entrants from the 2016-24 seasons. Finally, the NHL had seven teams win the Stanley Cup and 13 different franchises reaching the final. So, in terms of the team’s that reach the sport’s biggest stage, MLB — which, at 12 teams, still has the smallest playoff field of any sport — has enjoyed a broader mix of finalists than the salary-capped sports. There’s another way to consider the question — A comparison of what’s happened in baseball since the advent of free agency and leveraged financial advantages. Free agency took hold in earnest in the 1976-77 offseason. The Yankees, who immediately flexed their financial muscle with the signing of Reggie Jackson and other stars, claimed back-to-back titles in 1977 and 1978, yet that was no harbinger. In 47 seasons of free agency, those Yankees are one of three teams (along with the 1992-93 Blue Jays and 1998-2000 Yankees) to win at least two straight titles. The sport has featured 24 different World Series winners, encompassing 80 percent of franchises that have existed for any fraction of the era. What about the 47 years preceding free agency? Interestingly, the period featured teams that constantly stood atop the baseball world, with the 1975-76 Reds following the three-peating A’s of 1972-74 and an Orioles team that appeared in three straight World Series (though won just one) from 1969-71. Twelve different franchises among the 26 that existed from 1930-76 (46 percent) won the World Series at least once, and five different teams won at least two straight titles — with the 1972-74 A’s, 1949-53 Yankees, and 1936-39 Yankees all winning at least three straight. It’s incredibly hard for teams to buy championships in baseball — perhaps harder than any other sport. It’s worth remembering that the Angels enjoyed six years of Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout as teammates from 2018-23, with one of those superstars finishing top-two in AL MVP voting in all but one of those seasons, yet never made the playoffs across that entire run. In 2023, the Mets fielded the most expensive team in MLB history — and went 75-87. The Dodgers are terrifying to other teams and treated as a threat to competitive balance not because they spend, but because they’ve spent well on players who are once again executing brilliantly on the highest stage. It’s the sort of confluence that hasn’t been seen in a quarter of a century — a dynastic interregnum that exceeds that of any other sport, and any other time in baseball history.
