The current CBA will expire on December 1, and the MLB owners and the MLB Players Union are still at odds. Their rift just got wider on Thursday after the owners tabled their latest proposal: a drastic change to the offseason calendar. This time, the owners’ proposal has not only triggered displeasure in the union but also among the fans.
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The MLB owners had already expressed their desire to make changes to free agency in their prior proposals. They want to limit contracts between a player and his new club to five years and $202 million. However, if a player stays with his current club, his contract can extend to six years and $265 million. But when would these free-agent decisions be finalized? MLB owners have now proposed a smaller, three-week window for free-agent signings, similar to the NFL’s offseason transaction frenzy, instead of allowing deals to be made throughout the entire offseason.
“Major League Baseball today proposed drastic changes to its offseason calendar, including shortening free agency to a two- to three-week window every offseason, sources tell ESPN,” Jeff Passan wrote on X.
In the current system, the dead period begins right after the World Series, when players become free agents. But they may not negotiate contract terms until the end of the dead period, at 5 PM ET on the fifth day after the World Series ends. However, the owners want to extend the dead period until the first day of the Winter Meetings in December. During this time, players can negotiate, but no deals can be confirmed. However, teams are not barred from making trades in this window.
Furthermore, the owners have also proposed a revised timeline for free agency signings. Under the new proposal, teams can sign free agents from the Monday the Winter Meetings begin until December 21. They can neither sign a free agent nor trade a player until February. The free agent signing and trades will open again on the first Monday of February, before Spring Training.
“A cap-and-floor system would unlock additional opportunities to improve the game for players and fans, creating more stability in rosters, getting the best players to the major leagues more quickly, and accelerating the pace of the offseason,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin stated, per SportsNet. “In our current economic system, these changes would be too harmful to competitive balance and would not be practical.”
The owners’ latest proposal reinforces their primary demand for the new CBA: the implementation of a salary cap and floor. They want to impose a salary cap of $245.3 million and a floor of $171.2 million on teams from 2027 onwards. With the owners and the unions still at odds with each other, a lockout in 2027 is looming on the horizon.
Following the owners’ latest proposal, the MLBPA has issued a statement, calling it an attempt at turning back the clock on “fundamental player rights.”
“Their latest proposals regarding free agency would eliminate player rights by establishing an artificial free agency window, subject to a salary cap, which would reduce player leverage and create a game of musical chairs pitting player vs. player,” the statement read. “The suggestion that the only way to limit roster churn, or incentivize earlier free agent signings, is with a salary cap is entirely unserious.”
And while that’s the players’ take on it, proposed free-agency changes have triggered fan frustration as well.
“Trying to turn this league into the NFL. Not a good look,” wrote a fan.
Another fan commented, “This is owners trying to turn the hot stove into a three-week circus they can control, then slam the door so nobody has to spend real money in January. The long, messy, rumor-filled offseason is one of the few things baseball still does better than the other leagues.”
“Owners just want to cut down day-to-day expenses and not pay staff. Cheap SOBs,” a user remarked.
Another user wrote, “I like it, but that definitely kills all the hot stove convo in those dead periods. Not sure it’s smart to have a time of year when noone talks about your sport.”
“Did they ask ChatGPT what the dumbest possible proposal would be?” jibed a fan.
A fan commented, “Sounds like MLB needs a new commissioner.”
With the CBA deadline approaching, MLB’s proposed offseason changes have added another layer of tension to an already complicated negotiation.