Major League Baseball issued its latest proposal regarding a new collective bargaining agreement today. The key update is the league\u2019s willingness to push the implementation of a salary cap\/floor system from 2027 into the 2028 season, but the mere fact that the entire proposal is contingent on the implementation of a cap\/floor system unsurprisingly resulted in a swift rebuke from the MLBPA.<\/p>\n
The league\u2019s bullet points on the matter sound appealing but are rather selectively framed. For instance, MLB\u2019s press release proposes an increase to a $1MM league-minimum salary and a $15MM increase to the pre-arbitration bonus pool (plus an additional $10MM going into the pot over the life of the next agreement).<\/p>\n
However, reading the actual document itself (link via The Athletic\u2019s Evan Drellich<\/a>) shows some key caveats. The supposed $1MM league minimum only applies to players with more than two years of big league service time. Since players reach arbitration at three years, that only applies to players with more than two and fewer than three years of service. The top 22% of those players already qualify for arbitration as \u201cSuper Two\u201d players anyhow, so that $1MM minimum really only applies to 78% of the players with between two and three years of service.<\/p>\n Players with under two years of service would have a $900K league minimum. They can receive $100K from the pre-arbitration bonus pool to bump them up to $1MM \u2014 but only if they secure a full year of major league service time that season. Drawing from the pre-arb pool for that select group of players isn\u2019t the same as simply guaranteeing those players $1MM and leaving the bonus pool untouched for the entire pre-arb class as a whole. A significant portion of the proposed $15MM pool increase would just go toward that set of pre-arb players getting a $100K bump to $1MM, thereby reducing the impact of the increase. (As a reminder, the current pre-arb bonus pool is $50MM, with each team contributing $1.667MM annually to pay out bonuses to MLB\u2019s most productive pre-arbitration players.)<\/p>\n The cap itself is proposed for $258.2MM, with a $180.2MM floor, but those are merely projections. The specific numbers would be based on actual league revenue in the upcoming 2027 season and thus can\u2019t be known at this time.<\/p>\n MLB\u2019s proposal calls for a 50-50 split of all \u201cbaseball revenue\u201d with the players beginning in 2028 but does not spell out what exactly \u201cbaseball revenues\u201d entails and whether there\u2019s any discrepancy between that and total revenue. Those cap\/floor numbers would include annual contributions to the pre-arb bonus pool and benefits to players, meaning the actual cap\/floor would be lower than those suggested figures; MLBTR contributor Ethan Hullihen projects that player benefits will cost $18,561,327 per club next year (as can be seen in MLBTR\u2019s Payroll Tracker<\/a>). The proposed changes to the pre-arb bonus pool would mean each club is contributing an additional $2.167MM which would count toward the cap\/floor ($2.5MM annually by the end of a new agreement).<\/p>\n Other elements of today\u2019s proposal include reducing the number of times a player can be optioned in a given season from five to four, eliminating the possibility of teams receiving a fourth option year on a player, and a vague mention of \u201crestrictions on a Club\u2019s ability to cycle a player on and off the 40-man and Active rosters throughout the season for strategic reasons.\u201d (Presumably, that\u2019s a nod to teams like the Braves and Orioles repeatedly cycling Carlos Carrasco<\/a>, Elieser Hernandez<\/a> and Albert Suarez<\/a> on and off the 40-man roster via repeated DFAs.) MLB\u2019s proposal also includes weekly roster limitations, moving Rule 5 Draft eligibility up by a year and makes reference to an International Draft (without explicitly proposing specifics surrounding the implementation).<\/p>\n The union\u2019s response slams the league\u2019s proposal as an effort to \u201ccontinue to propose blowing up the current system and replacing it with one designed to line their pockets and increase their franchise values.\u201d<\/p>\n The MLPBA adds that pushing a cap\/floor implementation back to 2028 still results in \u201cmassive reduction in player compensation,\u201d \u201celimination of fundamental player rights, including guaranteed contracts,\u201d \u201cgutting of domestic and international amateur entry systems\u201d and \u201creplacement of market-based fundamentals with a zero-sum system that harms the middle class and pits player against player.\u201d (The notion of eliminating guaranteed contracts stems from the possibility that guaranteed deals would need to be based on revenue projections with a portion thus held in escrow; if revenue falls shy of expectations, the players may not receive their full salary, as has happened in the NHL under their cap\/floor system in the past.)<\/p>\n The MLBPA concluded: \u201cPlayers stand ready to negotiate in good faith toward a new CBA that will capitalize on our sport\u2019s unprecedented momentum and benefit players, clubs and fans alike.\u201d<\/p>\n The current collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59pm ET on Dec. 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Major League Baseball issued its latest proposal regarding a new collective bargaining agreement today. 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