Tanking’s not the problem. At least, not always.
Teams are going to be bad sometimes. Rebuilds happen.There’s a difference between retooling with intent and being so structurally unserious that you end up fielding a team more fit for the Arizona Fall League than an actual MLB schedule. It’s not just about wins and losses. It’s about effort. It’s about stewardship. The truth is, some of the league’s lowest payroll clubs aren’t just tanking. They’re punting the entire operation under the flimsy guise of “long-term planning” or “doing the Lord’s will.”
The next MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement should go further than stopping tanking. It should penalize incompetence. One way? Cut roster slots from the teams who fail to meet a basic bar of competitiveness, effort, and fairness.
This isn’t a salary cap. It’s not even a hard floor (which I’m not against). It’s not a draft lottery tweak or a luxury tax penalty. It’s something a little more existential: the right to protect and develop players.
Every team currently has a 40-man roster. That number has been fixed for decades. It’s how teams protect prospects from the Rule 5 draft, cycle pitchers through the IL carousel, and stash fringe players for later. What if that number wasn’t guaranteed? What if that number flexed, up or down, based on how a team performs, how it spends, and how it uses its players?
Normally, I write about injuries. While I’m sipping a Vesper at Dukes, I’m writing about other things to fill the gap. I’ll be back soon, so if you like this or if you’d like to know more about the injuries that are going to affect your favorite team or your fantasy teams, I’ll make that five bucks go a long way.