Insight on just how contentious the upcoming MLB labor battle will become is coming to light with the season nearing the midway point.
The collective bargaining agreement between the MLB Players’ Union and team owners is set to expire on Dec. 1, and negotiations on a new pact are expected to be combative.
Owners are expected to angle for a salary cap, while players are expected to be steadfast against salary restrictions.
While team values are rising at a rapid pace, so are player salaries, although it is the teams themselves that are agreeing to deals like Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million per season and Kyle Tucker’s $60 million per season.
The free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to both of those deals, shining a light on the two-time defending champions as a team that is hard to compete with both on the field and with the checkbook.
In MLB’s latest labor proposal, as reported by multiple outlets, an area of savings for owners would be cost-cutting measures in player development. When the current CBA was agreed to in 2023, minor league players received a raise.
Triple-A players saw minimum salaries jump from $17,500 to $35,800, while Double-A and Single-A players jumped to $27,300 from $13,800 and $11,000 respectively.
According to multiple reports, owners now hope eliminate high school players from the draft, with the minimum age for draft-eligible players is raised to 20. The draft also could be reduced from 20 rounds to 12.
Raising the age of draft-eligible domestic players would be a boon to college baseball, which would be set to receive a huge influx of talent.
Another potential money-saving change for MLB owners would be to create an international draft, instead of the current custom of signing international free-agent deals.
The age limit for signing international players would rise from 16 to 18, meaning that if all proposed changes are made, players that are not from the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico could join franchises sooner than domestic talent.
Both the domestic draft and the international draft would be limited to $200 million pools, well below what is currently spent on prospects.
The changes could save owners as much as $1 billion combined over the life of the next CBA, according to some estimates, all as team values continue to rise at record rates.
