SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — There’s no stopping the Dodgers’ wild spending spree, which doesn’t thrill Giants fans who can see the extreme disparity with the teams’ payrolls and on-field successes.
While the Giants are coming off another sub-.500 season, the Dodgers are focusing on becoming Major League Baseball’s first team to repeat as World Series champions since the Yankees at the turn of the century.
Furthermore, the differential between spending for the longtime rivals continues to grow as the Dodgers payroll is $392.5 million, according to Spotrac’s calculations, while the Giants are at $200.3 million.
The Giants slipped from eighth in payroll last season to 14th in 2025, a notable drop. Granted, the Giants’ payroll would have been much higher had they signed Corbin Burnes, an offseason target, but the free agent pitcher opted to sign with the Diamondbacks for $210 million over six years.
Tony Clark, executive director of the players’ union, visited the Giants’ camp to meet with players Friday morning as part of his annual 30-team tour. Afterward, he said in an interview that last year’s MLB’s record $12.1 billion in revenue was not lost on him.
“When there’s an announcement that the industry is bringing in more revenue than it ever has before and there are teams that are lowering payroll, that is of interest, yes,” Clark said. “Whether that’s San Francisco or any other team.”
Regardless, new president of baseball operations Buster Posey looks for his team to contend for a playoff spot this season as he focuses on a pitching-and-defense mantra and an offense that he wants to be better situationally to generate more runs.
Third baseman Matt Chapman, who signed a six-year, $151 million extension in September, was in the clubhouse when Clark addressed the players. He wouldn’t name the Giants as one of the teams that weren’t aggressive in free agency.
”I think we tried to get those guys,” Chapman said. “That’s not really a knock on the Giants at all. They’re trying to compete. They want to spend money, and I think they’re going to continue to spend money. Sometimes things don’t go your way. If we had Corbin Burnes, that’s another $30 million, which puts us at a different level. Buster wants to bring guys in, and there are multiple years for him to bring guys in. It’s all timing sometimes.”
Chapman emphasized that the Giants’ goal is to win the National League West, not simply make the playoffs, despite the Dodgers being heavy favorites.
“To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best, so we’re not going to shy away from those guys,” Chapman said. “We know that they’re a good team and won the World Series and got better, but so did we. Baseball’s a crazy game. The best team doesn’t always win. It’s about playing the game. For us to not want to win the division would be already selling ourselves short.”
With the A’s moving from Oakland to Sacramento this season — somewhat of a sore spot personally for Clark, who enjoyed playing at the Coliseum during his 15-year career — the Giants suddenly have become one of the biggest one-team markets in the majors, along with Boston, Philadelphia, and Texas.
It’s the first time since 1967, before the A’s relocated from Kansas City to Oakland, the Bay Area is a one-team market, and it comes at a time of uneasy anticipation among MLB owners and players, with the collective bargaining agreement due to expire in December 2026. It certainly was a subject Clark brought up to Giants players Friday, his final day in Arizona.
Despite the widespread concerns from fans — at least outside of Los Angeles and New York — about the unfair playing field enjoyed by the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets, Clark couldn’t underscore enough the union’s stance on a payroll cap, which owners will seek when negotiations for a new CBA begin sometime next spring.
Asked if the union would ever agree to a cap, Clark said, “No. We haven’t in 50 years, 60 years.”
Which means the Dodgers can continue spending lavishly with no consequences beyond their requirement to pay hefty luxury taxes. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean other teams can’t beef up their spending habits. But several teams prefer tighter wallets.
“Are we concerned about disparity?” Clark said. “We’re concerned about teams that are not trying to improve themselves. We’re concerned about teams that have less interest in putting a team on the field that has a chance to be the last team standing. We’re concerned about those teams because when all 30 teams look to put the best team on the field, the entire industry benefits.”
On the flip side, Clark said the union would consider a payroll floor, which would force the lower-end teams to invest more in payroll. A floor was discussed in the previous CBA talks, but the subject was shelved.
“The response was, every time you talk about a floor, there’s got to be a cap, and that’s not accurate,” Clark said. “You don’t have to have a cap in order to have a floor. There’s been a lot of commentary out there that suggests the union’s against a floor. We’re not against a floor.”
Clark was bothered by comments from commissioner Rob Manfred in a January article in The Athletic in which he said of offseason lockouts, “In a bizarre way, it’s actually a positive” because of the leverage it could create for both sides. Comparing offseason work stoppages with in-season work stoppages, Manfred said it’s “like a .22 [caliber firearm] as opposed to a shotgun or a nuclear weapon.”
Chapman was familiar with Manfred’s comments, which undoubtedly made the rounds among players on the Giants and other teams.
“I know that a lot of what Rob Manfred says in the media is posturing,” Chapman said. “They’re all negotiating tactics. He tries to create his narrative. I don’t think anybody should be mad about the Dodgers spending money. If you have the means to do it and get good players, I think all players should get paid. I don’t think there should be any knock on the Dodgers. I think other teams should follow the Dodgers’ lead and get more guys.
“With [labor negotiations] coming up, they always say things like that. They’re trying to set the stage. It’s good to know all the players are on the same page, and we know this game’s going in the right direction, and we’re willing to fight for what we need to fight for.”
Union helps A’s players
Thanks to pressure from the union, the field at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento will be grass, not artificial turf, a relief for A’s players as well as the Giants, whose Triple-A team, the River Cats, will share the facility with the A’s.
Clark said the union has alerted A’s players to remain in communication if issues arise once the season starts.
“At this point, there’s nothing we’ve seen or I’m aware of that jumps as a red flag,” Clark said. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed that once the guys get there, we’re hopeful the things that would help them to navigate are actually up to snuff.”
Fisher works the system
As part of John Fisher’s anticipated relocation to Las Vegas, he needed an interim home for three or four seasons during construction on the Strip. While he easily could have remained at the Coliseum, he instead chose Sacramento, to which Clark said, “As someone who had the opportunity to play on that field [in Oakland] as many times as I did and see the fan support that is there, I would’ve liked to see it play out differently.”
If or when the A’s get to Las Vegas, they’ll have moved from one of the biggest baseball markets to the smallest, which assures Fisher of constant revenue-sharing checks.
“Going from as large a market as Oakland was to one that’s completely on the other side of the spectrum such that they are perpetually in the world of receiving, it affects the system,” Clark said. “Is it a concern? Sure, it’s a concern. It’s also a concern that the next three years, they’re going to be in a ballpark that seats a third of what the Coliseum did.”
Expansion to include Bay Area?
Manfred plans to eventually push for a two-team expansion, from 30 to 32. Asked if he sees the Bay Area as a two-team market again, whether Oakland gets a team or San Jose becomes an option despite the Giants’ territorial rights to the South Bay, Clark said, “Never say never. … It lends itself to a conversation at the very least.”