From Bankruptcy to Banners: Scott Boras Uses the Dodgers to Argue Against a Salary Cap as Baseball's Lockout Clock Ticks

Scott Boras has spent decades making baseball owners nervous. This week in Las Vegas, he tried a different approach: he held up one of the sport's richest teams as proof that its system works.

Speaking at the general managers meetings on Wednesday, the agent pointed to the Los Angeles Dodgers' turnaround under owner Mark Walter as an argument against the salary cap that owners want in the next labor deal, DodgersBeat reported. Boras said Walter's group took over a franchise in bankruptcy and gave it the resources to hire the right executives and carry out a plan. The result, in his telling, took the club "from the outhouse of bankruptcy to the penthouse of world championships".

The New York Post, describing Boras as the sport's most influential agent, noted that the Dodgers are often held up as the very reason a cap is needed. Boras turned that argument on its head.

Boras argued that the Dodgers' spending grew their audience and lifted the whole league, and that other owners should have the same room to invest instead of being boxed in by a cap, DodgersBeat reported. He also pointed to the late Peter Seidler's investment in the San Diego Padres as an example of a smaller-market club deepening its bond with its fans.

He did not pretend that money is the only road to a parade, either. Boras cited the Milwaukee Brewers, who built a winner through scouting and player development. Milwaukee swept the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series this fall and went on to win the World Series. Players, he said, are emboldened by what he described as record revenue, viewership, sponsorship and attendance, and they want to protect the system that produced it.

The backdrop is a labor fight most of the sport expects to turn ugly. The collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 1, and The Boston Globe reported that MLB will lock out the players and freeze transactions at that moment. Whether a new deal comes in time to save the 2027 season remains uncertain, the Globe wrote.

Owners are intent on a salary cap, something players have resisted for decades, according to the Globe. MLB's latest proposal would start a cap in 2028, and the players' union remains opposed, DodgersBeat reported. The Globe described the Las Vegas gathering as baseball's last big event before a lockout and said next month's Winter Meetings are all but certain to be canceled.

There is a recent precedent for what may come next. The last lockout began Dec. 1, 2021, and lasted until March 10, the Globe noted. In the two weeks before it started, nine players agreed to deals, led by Corey Seager's 10-year, $325 million contract with Texas.

That history explains the urgency in Las Vegas. Tarik Skubal, a Boras client and the top arm on the market, has drawn known interest from the Mets, Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays, with two mystery teams reportedly involved, MLB.com reported. The left-hander is 43-17 with a 2.42 ERA over the past three seasons, according to the Globe, which noted that Boras usually waits out the market but moved quickly with Seager before the last lockout. The Dodgers expect to meet with Skubal's representatives, DodgersBeat reported.

Seager himself could be on the move again. The Rangers will explore trading the shortstop, who is owed about $155 million over the final five seasons of that deal, MLB.com reported, citing The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal. Seager hit a career-low .227 last season and has landed on the injured list nine times since 2023, and the Yankees and Rangers have discussed him, according to MLB.com, citing the Post's Jon Heyman.

Elsewhere, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Detroit will listen on outfielder Riley Greene but that dealing him is not a focus, and Atlanta's Alex Anthopoulos firmly shut down talk of trading Ronald Acuña Jr., MLB.com reported.

I come down closer to Boras than you might expect. A cap sounds like fairness, but too often it protects owners who collect their share of the revenue and never really try to win. The better answer is the free-market one: reward the clubs that invest in winning, whether that investment is a nine-figure contract or a first-rate scouting department, the way Milwaukee just proved it can be done.

But the people who buy the tickets deserve better than another winter of lawyers and silence. The last lockout stretched more than three months. Both sides say they love this game, and the best way to prove it is to get a deal done and keep the gates open. Dec. 1 is coming fast.