MLB owners and players are headed for a labor fight after the conclusion of the 2026 World Series. With that looming over the World Series, mega-agent Scott Boras spoke on baseball's economics.
"Look, in the major-league pools, there are a lot of ownership groups that swim, and there's a lot of owners that just choose to wear their floaties all the time," Boras told CBS Sports' Julian McWilliams. "And so, how do they get rid of their floaties? And the answer is, they either have to do it through talent, or they have to do it through investment and acquisition of talent to go out and compete."
The two teams playing in this year's World Series fit into Boras' latter category. The Brewers and Rays are two of the best teams at acquiring talent and turning it into wins. That's why they led their respective leagues in wins, and their trip to the Fall Classic feels earned.
Scott Boras Addresses Salary Cap Argument Ahead of 2026 World Series
The salary cap fight is front and center in this round of Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. MLB players have voiced their displeasure with such a system for decades, and that hasn't changed in 2026.
Boras believes the current system in place works, and there's no need for a salary cap to preserve MLB's competitive balance. Baseball's most famous agent certainly benefits from a lack of restrictions on spending. He represents the top players and is skilled at leveraging the market to land the biggest contracts in the sport.
But Boras wasn't going to throw out that comment without receipts. The mega-agent pointed to the Philadelphia 76ers, and their two biggest acquisitions for this season, as how a salary cap negatively impacts team-building.
Jaylen Brown was traded to the 76ers because the Boston Celtics couldn't keep him and Jayson Tatum together. Additionally, LeBron James is on a two-year, $8 million veteran minimum contract with Philadelphia.
"We don't want things like what happened in the NBA, where LeBron James is making $4 million, worth $60 or $70 million," said Boras. "And the Boston owner wants to keep his stars, but he has to sell them, and they can't reward their talent accumulation and intellect as owners because of a false system."
Smaller-market teams are countering this by signing young stars to extensions. Those teams take risks with huge guarantees early in the player's career but get a huge discount on free-agent years. The biggest examples in recent history include Bobby Witt Jr. ($288 million), Julio Rodríguez ($210 million), Corbin Carroll ($111 million), Roman Anthony ($134 million), Chase Burns ($105 million), and Pete Crow-Armstrong ($115 million) signing nine-figure contracts.
How the Brewers-Rays World Series Impacts Salary Cap Talks
The overarching narrative about spending will always focus on player salaries. Simply because that is the only thing close to public about how teams spend to further their goals of winning.
But the Brewers and Rays have shown that player salaries isn't just one area to invest in a winning product. Both organizations have some of the largest analytics and scouting departments in MLB. They don't take shortcuts on either end, blending the positives from both aspects to seeing hte game.
The Brewers are a proactive team in assembling their roster. They'll sign young players to extensions before it feels safe to, but the results speak for themselves. They signed Jackson Chourio ($82 million), Luis Lara ($31 million), and Cooper Pratt ($50 million) to long-term extensions before their respective MLB debuts. All three players are on their World Series roster.
Both teams have shown a willingness to splurge on the right player. The Brewers signed Christian Yelich to a $215 million extension back in 2020. While Yelich has fallen short of the player the club envisioned he'd be, he's been instrumental in setting the current culture.
The Rays thought they had a franchise player when they signed Wander Franco to an 11-year, $182 million extension. Franco was a complete player and a perennial MVP candidate. However, his off-field issues have prevented him from playing since 2023 and it's unlikely he'll play another game with Tampa Bay.
The Rays and Brewers have shown that small-market teams can compete with the right process. But the question remains how many organizations would be willing to adopt a similar approach.
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