MLB 2026 Postseason Narratives and the Looming CBA Negotiations

One week from the time you're reading this, the entire 2026 regular season in Major League Baseball will be complete. As always, it's been a breathtakingly fun roller coaster ride and I'm beside myself that we now get to strap in for a month-long playoff that'll see 12 teams enter and only one emerge.

As we look ahead, this isn't "all about" one team, but there is a team sitting in the forefront in everyone's consciousness. We don't even need to say their name.

We will, though: it's the two-time defending champion Dodgers. There are multiple components at play here. Not only are they shooting to become the third franchise to ever pull off a three-peat (the Yankees have done it several times and the A's did it from 1972-74), but this would cement them as a no-doubt dynasty with four titles in seven years. Those don't come along often and we haven't seen a surefire dynasty in MLB since the 1996-2000 Yankees (we could argue about the Even Year Giants in the 2010s).

The annoying component is, of course, the upcoming CBA fight. The owners have already floated plenty of propaganda during the regular season, and if the Dodgers threepeat heading into the bout, those same owners will believe (or at least argue) that only strengthens their case due to the Dodgers' massive payroll and financial advantages.

This is where things filter down to other very prominent teams, though.

As things stand, the Milwaukee Brewers -- playing in the smallest active market in Major League Baseball (Las Vegas will be smaller, but the A's aren't there yet) and sporting the 19th-ranked payroll -- have the best record in baseball. The best record in the American League? That belongs to the Tampa Bay Rays and their 23rd-ranked payroll.

A Rays-Brewers World Series isn't proof that the league doesn't need a salary cap, just as the Dodgers winning isn't proof that the league needs one, but narratives built in the public eye skew perception for the masses.

For those who worry about such things, the prospective playoff field covers the top, middle and bottom in terms of payroll. The Dodgers are first, Yankees third, Phillies fifth, Braves sixth, Cubs seventh, Astros eighth and Padres ninth. The Red Sox are 11th, Rangers 14th and Brewers 19th. The Rays are 23rd, White Sox 25th and Guardians dead last at 30.

Again, I don't believe that what unfolds this postseason proves anything one way or the other, but no one's relying on proof in a public labor battle. Even if the Dodgers get bounced, a Phillies-Yankees World Series will create a different narrative in the public eye than a Guardians-Brewers bout.

And if the Dodgers win again, especially over the Yankees like in 2024, the owners have all the "proof" they need. Right?