MLB players union soundly rejects league's salary cap proposal as bad in every way

Major League Baseball players would be taking a $500 million pay cut, with portions of their contracts becoming non-guaranteed if they accepted MLB’s proposal for a salary cap, Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the MLB Players Association, said Monday, June 1.

“That's something this union has fought against for decades, based on our belief that it's bad for players at all levels," Meyer said, explaining the union’s strong opposition to the concept. "And not just monetarily, bad for freedom, bad for competition, eliminates truly guaranteed money. Bad, bad for the fans, in our view, bad for players at every level, particularly bad for the middle class. …

“Fundamentally, that system is anti-competitive. It's a form of institutionalized collusion.”

When asked how to convince MLB owners, who are beginning a quarterly meeting Tuesday in New York, that the union would never cave in to the owners’ attempt for a potential lockout and would resist a salary cap like the NFL, NBA and NHL, he reaffirmed the union’s strength.

“Our union has never been broken,’’ Meyer said. “It never will be. So, you can take away a different lesson from our history, but that would be a big mistake.

“Our players have what they have, including being the only sports that doesn’t have this ultimate restriction, a salary cap, because our players have always been the most unified. And that’s going to continue.”

Meyer, speaking publicly for the first time since the union and MLB exchanged proposals last week, said that he and the players were bitterly disappointed in the MLB’s initial offer, which did not address items such as free agency, minimum salary, salary arbitration or the draft. The proposal, he said, is worse than the one MLB offered in 1994 before the sport endured the longest work stoppage in MLB history – 232 days – canceling the 1994 World Series.

“Very surprised,’’ he said. “I mean, I thought they would try harder to make it look good, and they didn’t even do that.’’

While MLB proposed a $245.3 million salary cap along with a $171.2 million payroll floor for teams, Meyer said the numbers were misleading considering it didn’t include benefits and amateur signings. While it included a promise of a 50/50 revenue sharing split, Meyer says that the players already are receiving more than 50% of the revenue now, so why would they accept a reduction that includes an escrow account, which could reduce pay if revenue doesn’t meet projections? He cited the NBA players as having to return nearly $500 million last year when the league didn’t meet their revenue projections.

Major League Baseball wasted no time disputing Meyer’s claims, issuing a release within 45 minutes of Meyer’s press briefing.

“Our salary cap and floor proposal addresses our fans’ concerns by leveling the playing field while sharing baseball revenue with the players 50/50 like the other leagues,’’ MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin said. “Under our proposal, Major League players will receive more compensation in Year 1 of the system than in 2026. We are ready to listen if the MLBPA wants to counter our proposal at the bargaining table.”

The massive disparity in MLB isn’t because of the Dodgers and Mets’ payrolls, Meyer insists, but from teams who receive monies in revenue sharing but refuse to use it for their payroll.

“Our proposals are designed to reward and incentivize competition,’’ Meyer said. “In other words, to get clubs, their owners [who] are choosing not to compete, to compete. And that will benefit players and fans. We believe that will be the single-best change that could be made to benefit fans … incentivize and reward teams that are actually using revenue sharing money and other forms of subsidies for the purposes for which it was intended, namely to put a better product on the field and not to put it in their pockets in the form of profits.

Meyer cited the Padres, who reside in one of MLB’s smallest markets, who increased their payroll to the third highest in MLB three years ago, and now have the second-largest attendance in baseball with a perennial playoff team.

“We want to encourage more San Diego’s,’’ Meyer said. “San Diego is a small-market team that went out, decided to compete, signed a lot of players. Turned around their franchise. They’ve grown attendance, they’ve grown interest, and we’ve all seen the explosion of their franchise value.”

The Padres were recently sold for $3.9 billion, the highest franchise sale in MLB history.

While a small-market team hasn't won the World Series since the Kansas City Royals in 2015, Meyer pointed out that the Milwaukee Brewers, who reside in MLB’s smallest market, won the most regular-season games in baseball last season before being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. The small-market Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays have also ranked among the top teams in regular-season victories in the last decade.

“Every team now has the ability to put a competitive team on the field,” Meyer said. “Every single [one] has the ability to do what the Brewers are doing, what the Padres have done, or what Tampa has always done.’’

The players union and MLB have yet to schedule their next negotiating session, but both sides say they likely will meet soon to at least address non-economic issues, with flickering hopes of still reaching an agreement before their CBA expires Dec. 1 and a pending lockout.

“Hopefully everyone is thinking rationally and at the end of the day we will make a deal,’’ Meyer said. “I don't know when, what it’s going to take, but we have to deal with each other.

“I wouldn't be optimistic expecting an early deal, but on the other hand, you never know. You never know.”

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