The formal process of the next collective bargaining agreement has begun. It was reported two weeks ago that the talks had begun with informal introductions. Today, the MLBPA made its first official proposal and released details to the media. Jeff Passan of ESPN, Evan Drellich of The Athletic and Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times were among those to relay the details. As expected, the union’s proposals involve improved outcomes for players. The proposal also has a heavy focus on the revenue-sharing system, as the players are hoping to improve the economic imbalances of the game without the implementation of a salary cap. The league will counter with their proposal tomorrow.
Many of the details involve the adjusting of measures already in place, in a pro-player direction. For instance, the union proposes raising the minimum salary to $1.5MM, almost double this year’s $780K minimum. They also propose expanding the $50MM pre-arbitration bonus pool to $180MM. The Super Two designation that currently goes to 22% of players between two and three years of service would jump to a 44% cutoff. The minimum tender in arbitration would be $3MM. The service time needed for free agency, which is currently six years, would drop to five years for players at least 30 years old. However, teams could keep such players for a sixth year by offering them a contract with a salary that averages out the 125 top-paid players in the league, which is the same calculus for the current qualifying offer. (Passan relayed those details in a subsequent post.)
More to come.
