It's a great week to do something nice for the furry friends in your life.
asserted
It → do → life
Let's get into some nitty-gritty about baseball's salary cap fight.
asserted
's → let → fight
We'll dive in with two sections on that, then move on to some new thoughts about an old video game.
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We → dive → game
Locker Room Links
- "The FTC [Federal Trade Commission] Is Beginning to Probe the Sports Gambling Industry."
asserted
FTC → begin → Industry
- As a publicly traded sports team, the Braves are about to start paying more in taxes.
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Braves → trade → taxes
Sens. Katie Britt (R–Ala.) and Raphael Warnock (D–Ga.) are trying to do something about it.
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Britt → try → it
- People are complaining about day games in MLB's division and league championship series.
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People → complain → series
I'm old enough to remember when my elders would wax poetic about World Series day games.
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elders → remember → games
But it's interesting to see MLB use day games on weekdays to minimize overlap while the NBA and NHL are fine with multiple playoff games at the same time.
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NBA → see → time
- The FBI is hiring UFC "to provide its agents with defense tactical training."
asserted
FBI → hire → training
- A Chinese player for Mississippi Valley State was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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player → take → Immigration
His student visa had expired and he was on his way to visit his visa sponsor when he was detained.
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he → expire → sponsor
His lawyer said ICE forced him to sign a form for voluntary departure.
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ICE → say → departure
My colleague Tosin Akintola covered the NFL siding against prediction markets in its legal battle (in my opinion, just to side with its sportsbook partners who are competing against prediction markets).
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who → cover → markets
Even 49ers running back Kyle Juszczyk got in on it.
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Juszczyk → get → it
I made a game where you draft your All 22 Pokemon team from randomly rolled Regions and Pokemon Types and the goal is to finish the season 17-0
So far my best record is 10-7 lolhttps://t.co/9ht5V4hiuT pic.twitter.com/5XwzOgPcSu
— Cole (@ColeThereum) October 9, 2026
MLB's Salary Cap Fight Isn't About Balance, It's About Costs
In 2025, baseball fans wanting to avoid a lockout, a salary cap, or both, were rooting for the small market, small payroll Milwaukee Brewers to beat the goliath Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series (NLCS).
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Brewers → make → Series
The Brewers got swept.
asserted
Brewers → sweep → ?
Now it's 2026, and guess what?
asserted
it → guess → what
Baseball fans wanting to avoid a lockout, a salary cap, or both, are rooting for the small market, small payroll Brewers to beat the goliath Dodgers in the NLCS.
asserted
Brewers → want → NLCS
(At least the Brewers aren't getting swept this time!)
asserted
Brewers → sweep → ?
But what if none of that matters at all to the salary cap fight?
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none → matter → fight
A small market World Series victory for the Brewers (19th in MLB payroll), the Tampa Bay Rays (28th), or, yuck, the Cleveland Guardians (30th) helps boost the theoretical argument that MLB doesn't need a salary cap for small market teams to succeed.
asserted
teams → help → cap
But labor negotiations are not decided by debate club rules—you don't win with a better policy argument.
asserted
you → decide → argument
The policy argument might matter to public opinion, but it makes hardly any difference to leverage.
uncertain
it → matter → leverage
Competitive balance may not matter to the owners at all (in fact, some studies have found that salary caps don't create more balance, but revenue sharing does).
uncertain
sharing → matter → balance
The owners are almost certainly focused on keeping down their labor costs.
asserted
owners → focus → costs
A salary cap would likely give an immediate boost to team values—when Formula 1 teams recently agreed to a broad cap on their expenses, valuations shot up.
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valuations → give → expenses
The lockout fight will come down to who can endure the pain the longest, and how much the "losing" side is willing to stomach what the "winning" side is offering.
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side → come → what
The billionaire owners have plenty of wealth and income from their other assets, but also don't want a lockout to crater the value of one of their biggest assets.
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lockout → have → assets
The players have had years to save and plan for a lockout, and some can still try to lean on endorsements, merchandise, and other nonpayroll income to help them along.
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some → have → them
The owners will try to say they're showing good faith by combining their salary cap with a salary floor that would force some teams to spend more on players—but that won't appeal much to the union's player leadership, which is largely made up of high-level players who want a big payday coming out of the lockout (I see you, future free agents Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes).
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I → try → agents
The only way public opinion might matter is if government officials decide to get involved.
uncertain
officials → matter → ?
President Donald Trump has already made noise about taking action, and backs the owners' push for a salary cap, but it's unclear how much he can lean on negotiations.
uncertain
he → make → negotiations
The National Labor Relations Board may end up involved—all four members were appointed by Trump (one is a Democrat who used to work for the players union)
uncertain
who → end → union
Members of Congress could threaten to take away MLB's antitrust exemption, but probably wouldn't have the votes to do it.
uncertain
Members → threaten → it
It goes without saying all this is incredibly frustrating for fans (as well as players who want to earn a living and teams that want to plan for the future).
asserted
that → go → future
The lockout is going to hit baseball like a car crash that everyone saw coming from miles away.
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everyone → go → crash
The basic bargaining positions have not changed in years, but the two sides have made basically no progress.
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sides → change → progress
At least Minor League Baseball won't get locked out, and should get a major viewership boost if MLB ends up losing games.
asserted
MLB → lock → games
What's funny to me is that the MLB salary cap debate is happening in the wake of two of the biggest spending cap scandals in sports history: the Los Angeles Clippers salary cap circumvention scandal and, in soccer, the Manchester City financial scandal.
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debate → happen → soccer
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
