...
By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Major League Baseball announced June 25 it will eliminate deferred salaries in future player contracts if the MLB Players' Association agrees to its other proposals in collective bargaining, including a hard salary cap.
The announcement makes clear the league's strategy of targeting some of the most popular complaints fans have registered with the economics of professional baseball — including a tactic the Los Angeles Dodgers have exploited en route to back-to-back World Series championships.
Read More on MLB
In a statement, MLB special assistant, baseball operations Glen Caplin said "the biggest issue baseball fans want solved to strengthen the game is fixing the payroll disparity that leaves too many fans without hope of their team competing for a World Series title.
"Every other major U.S. sport has tackled this problem, and every year more small market teams in those leagues have a chance to win. The salary cap and floor proposal levels the playing field, allowing us greater flexibility to address longstanding player priorities while sharing baseball revenue with the players 50/50."
...
Whether or not a salary cap will actually "solve" the issue of competitive balance in MLB is doubtful. Its 162-game regular season is the longest in professional sports. The staggering length of the season introduces variables around injuries, player movement, and luck that serve as far stronger competitive-balance measures than any limit on player payroll — including MLB's existing soft cap, a competitive balance tax on payrolls above $244 million.
Players have never agreed to a salary cap since they first unionized 60 years ago. That doesn't mean MLB won't try to reverse the tide of history. By asking players to accept several fan-friendly measures that have little or nothing to do with competitive balance, the league is putting the onus on the MLBPA to accede to popular sentiment, literally at their own expense.
More news: Rob Manfred Offers Unsettling Four-Word Answer to Work Stoppage Question
With its latest proposal, MLB is offering some concessions to the MLBPA in exchange for a hard cap.
"In addition to proposing the largest ever increase in the minimum salary, earned by over half of MLB players, we accepted two landmark changes to free agency that have been in place for 50 years," Caplin's statement continued. "We agreed to both the MLBPA's proposal to provide earlier access to free agency, and their proposal to eliminate the qualifying offer system, a provision players view as a drag on free agency. We also proposed to eliminate deferred compensation and to create a new 'Cornerstone Player' provision similar to the NBA's 'Bird Rights' to give every team a fair shot at retaining their fans' favorite star players.
"We will continue working with the MLBPA during the bargaining process to improve the game for teams, players and fans."
More news: A Former General Manager Just Destroyed MLB’s Pro-Salary Cap Argument
Specifically, the league proposed making the minimum salary $1 million for players with at least two years of service time, $900,000 with the potential for an additional $100,000 more for players with 0 to 1 years of service time, and eliminating the qualifying offer (which has restricted the ability of first-time free agents to achieve fair value on the open market after they reject their team's qualifying offer).
Before rattling off back-to-back championships, the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a $700 million contract that defers all but $20 million until after the 10th and final year of the deal. Ohtani has won the last two National League MVP awards and inspired copycat deferred contracts around the league.
More news: MLB, Players’ Union Trade Statements as CBA Negotiations Begin
Caplin's statement leaves unsaid the linchpin of the league's proposals: none of these player-friendly economic concessions will go into effect without a hard salary cap in place. That's a non-starter for the MLBPA, so this proposal will ultimately go nowhere.
Still, it lays bare the league's strategy for winning the hearts and minds of fans — and sets the stage for the MLBPA to reject a proposal that won't help them win the ongoing public relations battle between the two sides.
For more MLB news, visit Newsweek Sports.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines