Manfred: Dodgers spending ‘within the rules’
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Alden Gonzalez
PHOENIX, Ariz. — Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday called payroll disparity a principal concern throughout the industry but would not necessarily commit to a salary cap as a central point of negotiations leading up to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have stoked concerns about payroll disparity with their spending over the past two offseasons, during which they signed five players to nine-figure contracts: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Will Smith and Tyler Glasnow, the latter two by virtue of extensions.
Speaking during a spring training media event, Manfred reiterated prior comments while saying the Dodgers have “gone out and done everything possible, always within the rules that currently exist, to put the best possible team on the field, and I think that’s great for the game.” But he acknowledged that fans and owners have expressed concern about their ability to blow other teams away monetarily.
The Dodgers’ competitive balance tax payroll is estimated at about $392 million, well beyond the highest threshold, according to Spotrac. Only the New York Mets, a distant second at roughly $321 million, have even cracked $300 million. While offseason spending has reached roughly $3.3 billion, the Dodgers and Mets have accounted for more than 40% of that total. Nine teams, meanwhile, spent less than $20 million on free agents this winter.
“Disparity should be, it certainly is, at the top of my list of concerns about what’s occurring in the sport,” Manfred said. “When I say I can’t be critical of the Dodgers — they’re doing what the system allows. If I’m going to be critical of somebody, it’s not going to be the Dodgers. It’s going to be the system.”
The current Dodgers often have been compared to the New York Yankees teams of the 2000s that, under late owner George Steinbrenner, were commonly referred to as “The Evil Empire” for their ability to continually sign star players. But Manfred said these Dodgers are “probably more profitable on a percentage basis than the old Yankees teams were, meaning it could be more sustainable, so it is more of a problem.”
On top of residing in a major market and coming off a World Series championship, the Dodgers boast a regional cable deal that pays them about $334 million annually at a time when teams continue to fall out of their local media contracts. The Dodgers also benefit greatly from Ohtani, who deferred $680 million of his $700 million contract and has brought in massive revenue streams from Japan. The Dodgers have responded by investing the additional money back into their roster, making owners of even major-market teams such as the Yankees and Chicago Cubs complain about their inability to keep up.
It has all worked to push MLB’s long-held desire for a salary cap back to the forefront. Given that the MLB Players Association has been adamant it would never agree to one, it also has led to widespread concern about a lockout or work stoppage after the CBA expires in December 2026. The sides are expected to begin negotiations a year in advance, and payroll disparity — tied strongly to the fading traditional cable model and MLB’s hopes of fitting local media into a national umbrella — will undoubtedly become a hot-button issue.
“I’m not going to get into what the answer is,” Manfred said when asked whether he will seek a salary cap in the next round of bargaining. “We’re a year away. I have owners with really strongly held views that I need to coalesce into a position that we’ll ultimately take to the MLBPA. I don’t think starting that debate publicly is a good start. Whatever we settle on, we’re going to present in the collective bargaining process and try to handle it privately in order to get a deal.”
Manfred addressed many other topics in his wide-ranging media availability, which lasted close to half an hour:
• Manfred recently toured Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California, which will house the Athletics for at least the next three years, and he said the level of excitement within the community for a major league team is “palpable.” He added that the timeline for the A’s new ballpark in Las Vegas has not changed. “I believe we’re going to be on time to go in 2028,” he said.
• Manfred said he believes the Cubs would make a “good host” for the All-Star Game, which has not come to Wrigley Field since 1990. But he did not say whether there has been any progress in talks with city officials about closing down the streets around the ballpark for the event, which MLB and the Cubs consider a prerequisite. The Cubs are pushing to host the All-Star Game as early as 2027, the next available date.
• Manfred reiterated his belief that a separate draft is the best remedy to clean up some of the corruption that occurs on the international market, particularly in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, where pre-deals, performance-enhancing drug use and age fraud have become especially prevalent in recent years. “The transparency of a draft, the inability to make secret deals because you don’t know who’s going to draft whom, is really the best systemic approach,” he said.
• Manfred said the San Diego Padres, who were previously in danger of violating MLB’s debt-service requirement, have “really improved their revenue situation dramatically.” Manfred said John Seidler, who recently was approved as the Padres’ control person amid litigation from the late Peter Seidler’s widow, “is committed to the Padres long term” and “shares the kind of vision” that Peter Seidler, one of his brothers, had for the team.
• Manfred called the loss of local media deals a “temporal” problem that he believes will eventually affect every team, even the big-market clubs with contracts that are currently secure. He added that the issue won’t be addressed significantly until, at the earliest, after the 2028 season, when MLB’s prominent national deals expire.
“I do think baseball needs to alter its approach in advance of those negotiations,” Manfred said. “I think we need more central control over all the rights, whether they’re traditionally regarded as national or local, and we should be making an effort to make our product more national, because those national games are worth a lot more than games that are sold only in the local market.”
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Adam Rittenberg
Cincinnati freshman football player Jeremiah Kelly, an early enrollee who went through spring practice with the team, died unexpectedly Tuesday morning at his residence.
The school didn’t disclose a cause of death.
Kelly, an 18-year-old offensive lineman from Avon, Ohio, helped his high school team to a 16-0 record and a state championship last fall.
“The Bearcats football family is heartbroken by the sudden loss of this outstanding young man,” Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield said in a statement. “In the short time Jeremiah has spent with our team, he has made a real impact, both on the field and in our locker room. My prayers are with the Kelly family and those who had the pleasure of knowing Jeremiah.”
Cincinnati completed its spring practice session last week.
“We’ve suffered a heartbreaking loss today,” Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham said in a statement. “All of us at UC send our love and prayers to the Kelly family and we will do everything that we can to support them and our Bearcats student-athletes in the difficult days and weeks ahead.”
Seven of eight first-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and No. 8 gets rolling on Tuesday.
The Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers begins anew (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with both clubs looking like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender if they can survive the intrastate showdown.
Cats-Bolts is the third game of four Tuesday on the ESPN family of networks, following New Jersey–Carolina (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Ottawa–Toronto (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), and preceding the nightcap, Minnesota–Vegas (11 p.m. ET, ESPN).
What are the key storylines heading into Tuesday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down Monday night, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 2 (CAR leads 1-0) | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN
Game 1 sure did not go as planned for the Devils. A win at the legendarily loud Lenovo Center would’ve been stretching it, but losing Brenden Dillon, Cody Glass and Luke Hughes to injury was not an ideal outcome either.
They’ll hope to rebound Tuesday before the series shifts to Newark. Closing the shot attempt differential might help, as the famously possession-savvy Hurricanes held a 45-24 edge on shots on goal in Game 1.
For years, the knock on Carolina was that it lacked that one goal scorer who could get the Canes over the hump in the playoffs. Many observers thought the Canes had acquired such a player in Mikko Rantanen in January. Ironically, it was the player Carolina acquired in its subsequent trade of Rantanen to Dallas — Logan Stankoven — who scored two goals in Game 1. Will he add to that total in Game 2?
Of note heading into Tuesday’s game, the Devils have come back to win a playoff series after losing the first game 11 out of 26 times (42%); that figure drops to 20% if they fall behind 0-2. The Hurricanes have won six of their past seven series after winning Game 1.
Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 2 (TOR leads 1-0) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2
The atmosphere was intense for Game 1, and the Maple Leafs’ “Core Four” led the way: Mitch Marner (one goal, two assists), William Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Auston Matthews (two assists) each filled up the scoresheet. A continuation of that output will obviously help Toronto overwhelm its provincial neighbor.
Slowing down the Maple Leafs could depend on discipline, according to Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. “We took too many penalties, they scored on [them] and that’s the game,” Tkachuk told reporters after Game 1. “So that’s on us. We’ve got to be more disciplined.”
The Sens will also need to capitalize on their chances. According to Stathletes, Ottawa had five high-danger scoring chances in this game, and produced only two goals.
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 1 | 8:30 p.m ET | ESPN
This is the fourth time that the two Sunshine State franchises have met in the postseason, and all four of the meetings have occurred since 2021.
In each instance, the winner of the series has gone on to reach the Stanley Cup Final — Lightning in 2021 and 2022; Panthers in 2024 — while the 2021 Lightning and 2024 Panthers won it all.
Unsurprisingly, Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay’s leading scorer against Florida, with 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 15 games. Aleksander Barkov is the Panthers’ leading scorer against the Lightning, with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 15 games.
The two teams split their meetings in the regular season, with the Lightning winning the most recent, 5-1 on April 15.
Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 2 (VGK leads 1-0) | 11 p.m. ET | ESPN
The underdog Wild set a physical tone to the series in Game 1, outhitting the Golden Knights 54-29, but the hosts emerged with a 4-2 victory. Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden (two) were the goal scorers for Vegas, and Matt Boldy was responsible for both Minnesota goals.
Howden, who had never scored double-digit goals until his 23 this season, earned praise from coach Bruce Cassidy after Game 1. “He didn’t change his game,” Cassidy told reporters. “He played physical. He’s part of our penalty kill. He’s always out when the goalie’s out, typically one of the six guys we use a lot because of his versatility. He can play wing. He can take draws as a center. He’s been real good for us all year and good again tonight.”
Sunday’s game was the NHL debut for 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium, who just finished his season with the University of Denver. He played 13 minutes, 37 seconds and finished with one shot on goal.
Arda’s Three Stars of Monday
The greatest goal scorer in NHL history just keeps finding the back of the net. He had two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Caps take Game 1 3-2 despite a valiant third period effort from Montreal to send it to the extra frame.
Connor had the game-winning goal in the third period for the second straight game, as Winnipeg takes both games at home for the 2-0 series lead on the Blues.
Further proof that the Oilers are never out of the game, McDavid helped erase a 4-0 deficit with a goal and three assists, despite the Oilers falling 6-5 late in a thrilling Game 1.
Monday’s scores
Capitals 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)
Washington leads 1-0
Much of the regular season was spent focused on Alex Ovechkin‘s “Gr8 Chase” of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record, and he scored historic goal No. 895 on Sunday, April 6. It turns out, Ovi likes the spotlight. The Capitals superstar opened the scoring in the game, and bookended it with the overtime winner — his first ever, believe it or not — as the Caps survived a thriller in Game 1, following Nick Suzuki‘s tying goal with 4:15 remaining. Full recap.
1:51
Alex Ovechkin’s OT goal wins Game 1 for Capitals
Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game is an overtime winner that gives the Capitals a 1-0 series lead vs. the Canadiens.
Jets 2, Blues 1
Winnipeg leads 2-0
Game 1 between the two clubs was tightly contested until the Jets took over in the third period. That trend took hold again on Monday — the score remained tied into 1-1 the third period, when Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor scored at the 1:43 mark, and the Jets were able to hold the Blues off the scoreboard for the duration. Connor’s linemate Mark Scheifele assisted on the game-winner and opened the scoring, giving him a league-leading five points this postseason. Full recap.
0:40
Kyle Connor scores clutch goal to put Jets ahead in 3rd period
Kyle Connor extends Winnipeg’s lead after a clutch goal early in the 3rd period vs. St. Louis.
Stars 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)
Series tied 1-1
The series that every observer thought would be the closest in the first round didn’t look that way in Game 1, as the Avs ran over the Stars en route to a 5-1 win. Game 2 was much more in line with expectations, as the two Western powerhouses needed OT to settle things. Colin Blackwell was the hero for Dallas, scoring with 2:14 remaining in the first OT period. Full recap.
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Colin Blackwell comes up with big OT winner for Stars
Colin Blackwell sends the Stars faithful into jubilation with a great overtime winner to tie the series at 1-1 vs. the Avalanche.
Kings 6, Oilers 5
Los Angeles leads 1-0
Monday’s nightcap was a delight to those who like offensive hockey and were willing to stay up late. The Kings roared out to a four-goal lead late in the second period before Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored to pull within three with six seconds remaining. The two teams traded goals to start the third, before the Oilers notched three in a row to tie up the festivities with 1:28 remaining on Connor McDavid‘s first of the 2025 playoffs. L.A.’s Phillip Danault sent his club’s fans home happy, scoring the pivotal goal with 42 seconds left. Full recap.
0:46
Kings retake lead on Phillip Danault’s goal in final minute
Phillip Danault restores the lead for the Kings with a goal vs. the Oilers in the closing moments.
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