MLB owners are expected to begin a lockout on Dec. 1 to get a hard salary cap to punish high-spending clubs like the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and New York Yankees. However, a league insider has an intriguing five-point plan to force wealthy teams to rein in spending without a hard cap.

When the Dodgers and Mets handed out contracts to Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto in excess of $700 million in recent years, most assumed trouble was on the horizon when the current CBA expired. Especially when LA used contract deferrals to add to an already star-studded roster. This year is just a new peak for a problem that has been building for a couple of decades and is expected to hit a head in December.

Most around the game believe MLB is heading toward a lockout this winter that could cost them games in 2027 because owners want a salary cap, and players are expected to dig in to fight against it. But is there a way to avoid an extended lockout by punishing excessive spending that doesn’t use a cap?

The NBA has developed momentum in recent years because of strong parity. A major reason why is that while they have major financial penalties for teams that spend huge sums, there are built-in punishments over a certain threshold that affect roster building that aren’t about money. This week, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman offered up five smart ideas that go in a similar direction.

MLB could follow a similar payroll model as the NBA

The MLB insider’s first idea was that teams over a specific threshold can’t trade for a player owed more money than they send back out in a deal. For example, the Dodgers couldn’t have traded for Tarik Skubal by just giving up prospects. His second idea was that teams over the top threshold would have their roster limited to a 38-man roster instead of 40.

“The Dodgers have made an art of moving, particularly, pitchers up and down from the minors. It basically has permitted them to have a version of more than 13 pitchers at a time,” Sherman wrote.

The MLB insider also suggested that a team over the highest threshold can designate a player just once during the season. The Dodgers designated reliever Jonathan Hernández three times in 2026. If that idea is shot down, he then proposed teams over the highest and above the lowest threshold can option a player three times, while others in the middle can do so the current five times.

Sherman’s final idea would offer a draft-related penalty for big spenders and reward teams at the bottom of the standings but above the lowest threshold.

“Teams over the top threshold and under the bottom threshold cannot draft in the first round. Teams over the lowest threshold and among the 10 smallest markets who make the playoffs get an additional draft pick after the first round.”

Can a long MLB lockout be avoided this winter?

No one wants a lockout that leads to a lost season. The 1994 strike cost them that season. It then took years for MLB to recover and regain the trust of fans. Despite the Dodgers’ recent dominance, the league is as healthy as it’s ever been.

However, the MLBPA has always been the strongest in North American sports and rarely gives in to the desires of owners. So there is reason to fear that the 2027 season could be in serious jeopardy. It would behoove both sides to meet somewhere in the middle.

Sherman’s ideas offer a path that doesn’t limit players’ money-making opportunities, but also gives wealthy teams a reason to keep their spending far closer to their rivals. An extended MLB lockout can be avoided if the league and players can use some of the balanced concepts other North American leagues are already using.