Negotiations regarding baseball's next collective bargaining agreement began Tuesday in New York, reports The Athletic. The current CBA expires Dec. 1 and serious negotiations are still weeks away. MLB and the MLBPA each presented their view of the state of baseball during initial meetings. Formal proposals and counterproposals will come later.
Salary Cap Poised to Be Main Sticking Point
MLB and the owners are again expected to pursue a salary cap, something they've done repeatedly since the 1880s. The union has resisted calls for a salary cap and figures to do so again this CBA cycle. A salary cap is very likely to be the single biggest issue on the table.
CBA negotiations are about money. Everything else is secondary. There is a giant pile of money and the two sides haggle because they each want a bigger piece. MLB has done a good job selling a salary cap as necessary to improve competitive balance, but it is about money. Above all, a salary cap restricts player salaries and boosts franchise values.
The union has resisted a salary cap — MLB is the only non-capped league in North America — and figures to do so again this CBA negotiation. MLB's national television deals are up in 2028. Losing games would be terrible for business.
A salary cap is not a simple yes or no item. Even if the MLBPA relents and agrees to a salary cap, the two sides have to agree on how the whole thing would work. What counts as baseball-related revenue? What percentage do the players receive? What's the cap? What's the floor? The yes/no is the easy part; figuring out the system is the real fight.
Other Major CBA Issues
Other major CBA issues include the revenue-sharing program, which is likely to be adjusted (perhaps significantly) with or without a salary cap, as well as the postseason format, an international draft, and expansion. Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he would like to put the expansion wheels in motion before he retires at the end of his contract in January 2029.
Union Leadership Transition
Former MLBPA executive director Tony Clark abruptly retired in February after an internal investigation revealed an "inappropriate relationship" with his sister-in-law, who was also a union employee. Bruce Meyer, the MLBPA's lead negotiator since 2018, was elevated to interim executive director soon thereafter.
"We don't expect anything to change in terms of bargaining," Meyer said in February. "We've been preparing for bargaining for years. Players have been preparing. Players know what's coming. At the end of the day, leadership is important and leadership comes and goes, but what remains is the players. At the end of the day, it's the players who determine the direction of the union. Those priorities obviously have not changed and will not change."
The CBA expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Dec. 1. If MLB and the MLBPA do not reach a new CBA by then, the owners are expected to lock out the players, as they did five years ago. The 2021-22 lockout was baseball's first work stoppage since the 1994-95 players' strike. No games were missed, though a deal wasn't reached until March, which compromised spring training.