MLB reportedly submits first CBA proposal to union, which includes a hard salary cap and a $171M salary floor

With the MLB collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 1, both the league and its players are trying to get ahead of a potential lockout. One day after the union leaked details of the first CBA proposal it sent to the league, it was the league’s turn to share the details of its counter-proposal to the players.

That proposal reportedly includes a hard salary cap and a salary floor, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.

The league’s proposal, if accepted, would reportedly go into effect beginning in 2027. It reportedly includes a salary floor of $171.2 million, meaning teams such as the Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Guardians and Miami Marlins, among others, would have to drastically increase payroll ahead of next season.

The proposed salary cap is reportedly $245.3 million, meaning teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and New York Yankees, among others, would have to cut payroll ahead of next year.

The league’s proposal also reportedly includes a 50-50 revenue split between the league and its players, per Rogers, who reported that the salary cap would increase in future years based on league revenue.

The MLB proposal comes a day after the union submitted its first CBA proposal to the league. Details of that proposal — which included increases to the minimum salary, punishments for teams that fail to meet “minimum payroll benchmarks” and potential changes to when certain players are eligible for free agency — emerged Wednesday.

While it can be viewed as a positive that both sides have opened negotiations months ahead of the Dec. 1 deadline, an agreement is not expected to be reached until long after that date. At this point, both sides are publicly posturing in an attempt to sway media and fan sentiment. Both sides will likely engage in more pressing and aggressive negotiations once the threat of missed games becomes a reality.

Given the reports and rumblings — and the general history of CBA negotiations in baseball — it’s not a surprise that the league included a hard salary cap in Thursday’s proposal. A salary cap has been at the center of numerous CBA negotiations throughout the sport’s history. In the past, it has always been a deal-breaker for the players’ union.

Notably, the league and the players are seemingly already in agreement on one aspect of the next CBA: a salary floor. While that alone is unlikely to solve the complex labor disputes between the two sides, it presents some common ground for the league and the players to discuss in future negotiations.

This story will be updated.