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Major League Baseball’s next labor fight officially has its opening proposal.
The MLB Players Association made its first formal offer to owners on 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 protections for players and a new mechanism aimed at forcing lower-spending teams to invest more money in the on-field product (cough, Pirates, cough).
Among the most important pieces of the proposal is a massive increase in the league’s minimum salary. The MLBPA is seeking a minimum of $1.5 million starting in 2027, according to a proposal document published by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. That would nearly double the current low 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 service time manipulation, eliminating the qualifying offer and eliminating penalties for clubs that sign free agents.
But the most interesting piece might be the “Competitive Integrity Tax” proposal.
MLB players want to raise the payroll floor, challenge cheap owners and reshape the salary cap debate before the collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2026. (Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
Under the proposal, the tax would apply to clubs that don’t meet minimum payroll benchmarks — teams that reportedly spend less than $150 million. In other words, players aren’t just targeting the highest-spending teams (cough, Dodgers, cough). They are also targeting franchises that collect revenue from the league while refusing to spend enough on major league talent.
That’s where the next labor fight could get especially interesting.
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MLB already has a competitive balance tax, more commonly known as a luxury tax, that punishes teams for spending above certain payroll thresholds. The MLBPA proposal would increase the luxury tax base threshold from $244 million to $300 million and eliminate non-monetary penalties, such as consequences for draft picks, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
So the union’s message is clear: Stop punishing aggressive spenders so harshly and start putting pressure on teams that don’t spend.
The proposal also includes changes to revenue sharing. Sports Business Journal reported that the MLBPA plan would guarantee each small-market team at least $240 million in annual revenue, but with conditions requiring those funds to be used to improve on-field performance. The proposal would also create penalties for clubs that do not spend revenue-sharing payments on team payroll.
It’s a plan that fans of low-spending teams are likely to support (cough, Reds, cough).
A general view of Great American Ball Park, home of MLB’s Cincinnati Reds. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Baseball’s economic argument often focuses on the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and other big spenders. Owners who want a salary cap often point to the competitive balance and financial gap between teams in major markets and those in smaller markets. But the players’ proposal intelligently attacks the issue from another direction.
Instead of limiting what the richest teams can spend, the MLBPA wants to increase the limit for teams that spend very little.
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The union also proposed allowing players with at least five years of service and who have turned 30 (before Nov. 1) to qualify for free agency. Under the current system, players generally need six years of major league service to reach free agency.
The proposal is just the first step in what is expected to be a difficult labor process. The current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and owners will likely again seek 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 economic reform can be achieved without one.
That question is the crux of the dispute.
Players want more money going toward salaries without limiting what teams at the top can spend. Owners want more certainty over costs and will almost certainly frame a cap-and-floor system as a solution to competitive balance.
The MLBPA wants to give teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers more room to spend money on players and punish teams that don’t spend enough. (Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)
Both sides have been here before.
The 2021-22 lockout did not cost the sport any regular-season games, but it delayed the deal until March and compromised spring training. That was MLB’s first work stoppage since the 1994-95 players’ strike.
Now baseball is heading into another high-stakes labor negotiation; the sport enjoys strong momentum on the field, but with the same basic financial struggle bubbling beneath the surface.
The players have already made their first move.
And if Wednesday’s proposal is any indication, they’re not just preparing to fight the league’s richest owners.
They also go after the cheap ones.
