Rays' Caminero says "no'' to salary cap

Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero expressed his opposition to a salary cap and his support for other Players Association negotiating positions during an extended interview with the "Sources Tell Jeff Passan'' podcast.

"I don't want to do that — a salary cap,'' Caminero told Passan in an interview that aired Wednesday. "If (we) don't play next year, we don't play next year. But I'm not going to do that.''

Caminero, a native of the Dominican Republic, emerged as one of Major League Baseball's brightest stars in 2025 and has continued his ascent this season. He ranks second in the American League to Houston's Yordan Alvarez with 26 home runs and is fourth in the AL with a .554 slugging percentage.

Caminero is slated to become the first player in Rays history to start two All-Star Games, and will also participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

The MLBPA and its membership expressed their opposition to a salary cap and declared it a non-starter when MLB proposed it in early CBA negotiations in May. Owners are pushing for a cap for the first time since 1994, when a strike led to the cancellation of the World Series and resulted in a 232-day work stoppage — the longest in the game's history.

"The 1994 players were fighting for (the players of) today,'' Caminero said. "Now I'm taking care (of) the future.''