MLB, Players' Union Trade Statements as CBA Negotiations Begin

The Collective Bargaining Agreement between Major League Baseball and its Players’ Association expires Dec. 1. Within the game, a labor stoppage is seen as inevitable. But negotiations have to begin somewhere.

Specifically, they began this week in New York. On May 27, the MLBPA made its initial series of core economic proposals. They’re aiming high.

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Among the key points in the union’s proposal:

• A minimum salary for major league players of $1.5 million beginning in 2027
• An expanded pre-arbitration performance bonus program distributing more dollars to more players
• Expansion of salary arbitration eligibility
• Enhanced compensation and contract guarantees for players in salary arbitration
• Expansion of rules aimed at combating service time manipulation
• Elimination of the qualifying offer, as well as penalties for teams that sign free agents who received and rejected the qualifying offer
• Increased benefits for lower-revenue teams who lose players to free agency
• Qualified free agency for players with five or more years of service who have reached age 30
• "Luxury Tax" threshold increases and removal of non-monetary penalties
• A new "Competitive Integrity Tax" applying to Clubs that fail to meet minimum payroll benchmarks
• Expanded draft lottery to further disincentivize “tanking”

The idea of increasing benefits for lower-revenue teams who lose players to free agency looms as a likely sticking point as negotiations advance. The league is expected to propose capping players’ salaries in some form when it formally presents its own core economic proposals on May 28.

"Our goal is to preserve and improve baseball's market system, rewarding competition on and off the field,” interim executive director Bruce Meyer said in a statement. “Additionally, the players' proposals provide increased revenue sharing initially guaranteeing every small market Club a minimum of $240m in revenue every season. This enhanced revenue sharing includes added protections to ensure Clubs prioritize winning over profiteering. Ultimately, our proposals are designed to build upon the incredible momentum and popularity of our sport world-wide."

In a response to the union’s statement, MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin said, “we appreciate the union making a set of proposals and we look forward to continuing the bargaining process and working towards solving the competitive balance problem our fans are telling us needs to be addressed. We understand their proposals are designed to benefit players.”

“Unfortunately, they do not address and in fact exacerbate the competitive balance problem our fans are telling us we must address,” Caplin continued. “The MLBPA’s proposal would reduce the amount transferred to lower-revenue Clubs, weaken the Competitive Balance Tax, and lead to even more payroll disparity than exists today. For example, under the Union’s proposal, the Dodgers would pay less in luxury tax payments, giving them an additional $70 million to spend on payroll.”

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The Los Angeles Dodgers are a poster child for MLB’s argument that a salary cap is necessary to improve competitive balance around the league. Last November, the Dodgers became the first team since the New York Yankees in 1999-2000 to win consecutive World Series championships.

After signing free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker and closer Edwin Diaz to lucrative contracts last winter, the Dodgers pushed their Opening Day payroll past $317 million, second in the league. Commissioner Rob Manfred and his negotiators are expected to argue that restricting player payroll will help small-market teams dethrone the Dodgers and other teams with more financial resources.

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Weakening this argument: although it’s worked for the Dodgers, unmitigated spending on player payroll is hardly a guarantee of future success. The New York Mets entered the season with a higher payroll than the Dodgers and have a 22-33 record, last place in the National League East.

In the American League, the Rays, Guardians and A’s each began the season with the lowest Opening Day player payroll totals in their respective divisions. Yet each team sits in first place at the one-third mark of the regular season.

Sorting fact from fiction around the merits of a salary cap shouldn’t take months. Depending on how MLB stakes its position tomorrow, however, the forecast could call for a long period of labor negotiations beginning this winter.

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 5:55 PM.