MLB owners and representatives from players’ union began preliminary negotiations on a new labor deal earlier this year, and each side has made suggestions on changes they want to make to the game. Many of these proposals are simply bargaining planks to be pulled back eventually as a concession to get a higher priority, but many are proposed in good faith to make continuing tweaks to the game.
Here are some of what the two sides have suggested.
Owners have proposed:
- A salary cap of $245 million with a salary floor of $171 million, although those numbers include some $20+ million per team in non-salary costs like benefits. Owners have proposed a 50/50 split of league-wide revenue with players.
- A maximum contract for a player of no more than five years, with a salary of no more than 15 percent of the cap, with exceptions made for teams retaining players.
- All local TV revenue to be pooled and divided equally among the 30 teams.
- An increase in the pre-arbitration compensation pool from $50 million to $65 million.
- Elimination of contract deferrals.
- Requiring active rosters to be set on a weekly basis, with no shuttling of players to the minors.
- Allowing teams to carry 14 pitchers out of a 26-man roster, instead of 13.
- Reducing options in a season from five to four.
- Replacing the 10- and 15-day Injured List with a one-week and two-week Injured List, and the 60-day Injured List with a 12-week Injured List.
- A minimum salary increase from $780,000 to $1 million in 2027
- Expanding eligibility to the Rule 5 draft, and removing active roster requirements.
- Free agency limited to a three-week period in December, with signings allowed again in February.
- Cutting the regular season to 154 games, with one off-day each week. Expanding the LDS to a best-of-seven format. Higher seeds would be allowed to pick their opponent.
Players have proposed:
- Increasing local TV revenue sharing among clubs, while decreasing revenue sharing from ticket sales, to incentivize improving on-field performance. Teams would pool the first $50 million of each team’s local TV revenue, plus two-thirds of the amount above $50 million, for redistribution. Each team would be guaranteed $240 million in annual revenue. They have also proposed forfeiture of revenue sharing funds for a low payroll.
- Raising the Competitive Balance Tax from $244 million to $300 million, and up to $360 million by 2031 and removing many of the nonmonetary penalties for going over, such as draft pick losses.
- A “competitive-integrity tax” for any team with a payroll below $150 million.
- Expansion of the draft lottery from six to eight teams.
- Increasing the minimum wage from $780,000 to $1.5 million, with increases through 2031.
- A minimum $3 million tender for arbitration-eligible players, and expansion of eligible players in their second year of service time from the top 22 percent to the top 44 percent.
- A one-time adjustment of current arbitration salaries, increasing those salaries by at least $2 million.
- Eliminating the Qualifying Offer, while retaining compensation to teams losing free agents.
- Free agency after five years, rather than six, for players over 30 years of age, a proposal owners have accepted.
- Increasing the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $50 million to $180 million.
- Expanding the Prospect Promotion Incentive program to give draft compensation for eligible rookies, to include more awards.
- Increasing roster limits to 28, rather than 26, for the first two weeks of the season.
- Reducing options in a season from five to three.
- Prohibiting optioning pitchers after a good performance under certain circumstances, as part of roster manipulation.
- Fully guaranteeing salaries awarded in arbitration.
- Allowing teams to place players on the 60-day Injured List in the offseason.
- Accruing service time for players optioned to the minors in September.
- Allowing players to access club-collected, non-proprietary performance data and video.
The sides could
also determine rule changes that affect the play on the field. The league is experimenting with outfield positioning rules in the Arizona Fall League.
But one group that is not a party of the talks is you, the fans! What changes, if any, do you want to see in the game? How should revenues and salaries be determined? Any changes to the schedule or playoff format? Roster rules? Draft changes? Any changes you would like to see on the field? ABS has been a success, could robo-umps take over full time? Could baseball disincentivize “three-true outcomes” results? Is there a way to get starting pitchers to go deeper in games?
How would you change the game?
