During the modern golden age of the Los Angeles Dodgers, many have called for them to change their approach.

The approach in question is the kind of spending that the Dodgers show each offseason for top talent around the league. This has translated into three World Series rings since the 2020 season, but has also demanded that the rest of the league do the same to meet the heightened expectations.

With no salary cap to stop them, the Dodgers have continued to rewrite what is possible in terms of star power on a team. With an impending lockout across MLB — and one that could introduce a limit to spending — the future will start to be impacted, at least in the financial sense.

This past World Series was perhaps the most glaring example of how whatever a team spends will not directly correlate to success in the postseason.

The eventual champion Milwaukee Brewers not only swept the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, but did so with the 12th lowest payroll in the sport compared to the Dodgers' second-highest payroll.

The team they beat in the Fall Classic, the Tampa Bay Rays, had the third-lowest payroll, and got to the World Series after they swept the New York Yankees, owners of the third-highest payroll in MLB.

The Brewers finished the regular season with 103 wins, leading the National League; the Rays finished with 98, which led the American League.

Former MLB commissioner Bud Selig said via The Athletic's Tyler Kepner that despite the somewhat uncharacteristic nature of the lower-salaried teams entering the Fall Classic, this doesn't mean a salary cap is unrealistic.

“Would you really make that conclusion after [the] 44 years it took to win?” he said of the Brewers' long drought. “The Dodgers have spent money, like my favorite term: drunken sailor. I understand people can disagree, but I believe [a cap is] the right thing. But that’s for another day.”

That day may come sooner rather than later as the current CBA is set to expire on Dec. 1.

As for the 'drunken sailor' comment, perhaps that label can be better used for the team who spent the most in MLB last season, the New York Mets. Despite a whopping $346 million spent, the Mets finished with the sixth-worst record in baseball at 74-88 (about $4.7 million per win).

Does high-spending ever guarantee a championship? No. Will a salary cap (and potentially a floor as well) at least marginally even the playing field? Absolutely.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X/Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.