However, in the first full winter under the new collective bargaining agreement, big-spending teams such as the Dodgers and New York Yankees have focused on cutting payroll so as not to pay a luxury tax. That effectively has put a soft cap at the top of the market, and the proliferation of tanking teams has chilled the market for what has come to be regarded as baseball's middle class.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 27, 2018 21:11 UTC