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Major League Baseball’s next work game officially has its opening proposal.
The MLB Players Association made its first formal offer to owners Wednesday as the sport begins working toward a new collective bargaining agreement, and the union’s initial wish list is exactly what fans might expect: higher salaries, more player protections and a new mechanism aimed at forcing lower-spending teams to put more money into the product on the field (cough, pirates, pirates).
Among the biggest parts of the proposal is a massive increase in the league’s minimum wage. The MLBPA is seeking a minimum of $1.5 million starting in 2027, according to a proposal document posted by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. That would nearly double the current minimum of $780,000.
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The union also proposed expanding the pre-arbitration bonus pool, expanding eligibility for salary arbitration, increasing protections against seniority manipulation, eliminating the qualifying offer and removing penalties for clubs that sign free agents.
But the most interesting piece could be the proposed “Tax on Competitive Integrity.”
MLB players want to raise the salary floor, challenge cheap owners and reshape the salary cap debate before the CBA expires in December 2026. (Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
Under the proposal, the tax would apply to clubs that do not meet minimum wage standards, with teams reportedly spending less than $150 million. In other words, the players aren’t just targeting the highest spending teams (cough, Dodgers, cough). They also take aim at franchises that collect league revenue while refusing to spend enough on major league talent.
This is where the next industrial struggle can become particularly interesting.
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MLB already has a competitive balance sheet tax, more commonly known as the luxury tax, that penalizes teams for spending above certain salary thresholds. The MLBPA’s proposal would increase the luxury tax base threshold from $244 million to $300 million and eliminate non-monetary penalties, such as draft selection consequences, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
So the union’s message is clear: stop punishing aggressive users so harshly and start putting pressure on teams that don’t want to spend money.
The proposal also contains changes in revenue sharing. The Sports Business Journal reported that the MLBPA’s plan would guarantee all small-market teams at least $240 million in annual revenue, but with conditions requiring those funds be used to improve on-field performance. The proposal would also create penalties for clubs that do not use revenue sharing payments on team wages.
It’s a plan fans of low-spending teams are likely to get behind (cough, reds, cough).
A general view of Great American Ball Park, home of MLB’s Cincinnati Reds. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Baseball’s financial argument is usually framed around the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and other big spenders. Owners who want a salary cap often point to competitive balance and the financial gap between major-market and smaller-market teams. But the players’ proposals cleverly attack the problem from the other direction.
Instead of limiting what the richest teams can spend, the MLBPA wants to raise the floor for teams that spend very little.
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The union also proposed allowing players with at least five years of service who turn 30 (by Nov. 1) to qualify for free play. Under the current system, players generally need six years of major league service to reach free agency.
The proposal is only the first step in what is expected to be a difficult work process. The current CBA expires on Dec. 1, and the owners will likely once again pursue some version of a salary cap and floor system. The MLBPA has long opposed a salary cap, and interim CEO Bruce Meyer has argued that financial reform can be accomplished without one.
That question is at the heart of the dispute.
Players want more money pushed towards salaries without limiting what teams at the top can spend. Owners want more cost certainty and will almost certainly frame a deck-and-floor system as a competitive balance.
The MLBPA wants to give teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers more room to spend money on players while penalizing teams that don’t spend enough. (Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)
The two sides have been here before.
The 2021-22 lockout didn’t cost the sport any regular-season games, but it delayed the deal until March and compromised spring training. It was MLB’s first work stoppage since the 1994-95 players’ strike.
Now, baseball is headed for another high-stakes labor negotiation, with the sport enjoying strong momentum on the field, but with the same fundamental financial struggle bubbling beneath the surface.
The players have now made their opening moves.
And if Wednesday’s proposal is any indication, they’re not just preparing to battle the league’s richest owners.
They also go for the cheap ones.
