Baseball is a pay-to-play sport. That’s just the way it is, and unless hell freezes over and the players cave on implementing a salary cap in the next CBA, that’s not going to change.

The teams that spend the most money consistently produce the best results. That’s not to say you can’t win games or even championships with a lesser payroll—but year after year, small-market teams, and big-market teams that act like small-market teams, get outclassed by baseball’s elite.

Look no further than the NLCS. The Los Angeles Dodgers and their $549 million payroll just sent Milwaukee and their $137 million payroll home in four swift games with a whimper—after the Brewers won 97 games. It didn't matter. There's still a gap. 

The Dodgers’ success has every fanbase looking sideways at their ownership group. But fans of big-market, revenue-printing teams like the Chicago Cubs have a stronger case than most. According to new Forbes data, the Cubs ranked third in MLB revenue during the 2024 regular season—and that’s for a team that didn’t even make the playoffs. Only the Yankees and Dodgers brought in more.

In theory, the Cubs should be operating in the same spending tier as those franchises. But that doesn't need to be the bar for Chicago to be a more complete team that can win the World Series in any given year.

I’m not saying the Cubs need to roll out a $500 million payroll to be successful. Their $213 million payroll in 2025 got them to the postseason and into Game 5 of the NLDS against that same Brewers team. Steve Cohen-level chaos is an unrealistic expectation.

But there is no world where the Chicago Cubs should be operating in the same financial neighborhood as the crosstown White Sox, and right now, that’s exactly what the numbers say.

If we look at the percentage of 2024 revenue turned into payroll spending in 2025, the Cubs sit 26th in baseball at just 36.4%. The White Sox are 29th at 31.9%.

That’s not Dodgers territory—Los Angeles allocated 73% of their revenue to payroll—but it is absolutely White Sox territory. And that should infuriate Cubs fans.

Nobody’s asking for the Ricketts family to be handing out blank checks. But even operating in the same range as the Tigers, Yankees, and Astros—teams that hover just under 50% payroll allocation—would give the Cubs a massive boost.

To put it in perspective: 49% of Chicago’s $584 million in revenue comes out to roughly a $286 million payroll. That’s a $73 million increase from where they are now—which translates to two or three elite players.

Anyone who watched the postseason knows exactly what that would mean. The Cubs weren’t far away. One more big bat. One more legitimate frontline starter. That’s the difference between falling short in Milwaukee and walking into Dodger Stadium with a real chance to win another pennant.

The Cubs don’t need to become the Dodgers. But they certainly need to stop looking like the White Sox. A club that generates top-three revenue in baseball shouldn’t be applauded for efficiency—it should be feared for ambition. The window is open, the money is there, and the fanbase has already proven it will show up. Now it’s on ownership to do the same.