Rockies Owner Clamors for Change Due to Dodgers' High-Spending Offseason

Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort has called for change in MLB ahead of the 2025 season, suggesting that the only way to fix the league is by implementing a salary cap and floor.

Heading into this upcoming season, the Rockies, who lost 101 games a year ago, look hopeless while their National League West rival Los Angeles Dodgers appear primed to defend their World Series title after another high-spending offseason.

“The only way to fix baseball is to do a salary cap and a floor," Monfort told The Denver Gazette. "With a cap, comes a floor. For a lot of teams, the question is: How do they get to the floor? And that includes us, probably. But on some sort of revenue-split deal, I would be all-in.

“Something’s got to happen. The competitive imbalance in baseball has gotten to the point of ludicrosity now. It’s an unregulated industry."

The Dodgers spent big to add or re-sign multiple notable players to their roster, causing a stir among several MLB teams who can't keep up with their huge payroll. Their offseason spending was highlighted by signing Cy Young award winning pitcher Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million deal, inking All-Star reliever Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72 million contract, and re-signing All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernández to a three-year, $66 million contract. The offseason prior, the Dodgers famously signed Shohei Ohtani to a record-breaking $700 million contract.

“The Dodgers are the greatest poster children we could've had for how something has to change,” said Monfort.

There certainly is a case to be made that MLB should implement a salary cap and/or salary floor. Small-market teams are at a disadvantage to teams like the Dodgers, New York Mets, and New York Yankees. Due to MLB's unequal TV revenue structure, those small-market teams make significantly less each season, and thus, have less to spend.

However, Denver is no small market, and the Rockies have struggled to compete much in part to their owner's unwillingness to spend. Colorado has won just one playoff game since 2010 and hasn't finished above .500 since 2018.