Latest MLBPA Proposal Focuses on Roster Management, Salary Protections

While MLB and the MLB Players Association remain deeply divided about baseball’s economic future, the union has put forward a new proposal centered on how teams manage their rosters.

In a bargaining session held Wednesday, expected to be the last before the upcoming All-Star Game, the MLBPA proposed a series of measures designed to give players more opportunities to earn major-league service time. Among the specific asks from the union:

• An expansion of the major-league roster limit from 26 to 28 during the first 15 days of the regular season. This is aimed in part at reducing workloads for players still gearing up for a six-month season. 
• A shift of the trade deadline to between July 21 and July 27, beginning in 2027. Currently, the date is set by the league office at some point between July 28 and Aug. 3, with that lattermost one established for this year.  
• An allowance for clubs to place players on a 60-day injured list before 40-man rosters are set, allowing them to protect more players.
• A reduction in the number of times a player can be optioned to the minor leagues in one season from five to three, with the union goal there to reduce roster churn. 
• Service time and salary protections for players optioned to the minor leagues immediately after games and during the All-Star break, providing they meet certain thresholds. This is aimed at helping reduce roster manipulation. 
• A requirement for clubs to share non-proprietary performance data and video that it has collected with players. That content has been frequently used to help inform contract offers. 
• The creation of a new religious accommodations list, in which a player could be inactive for one to two days for a “bona-fide religious observance.”

While not necessarily as dramatic as the economic measures currently being discussed, the union proposals, put together, seek to create more major-league opportunities for players, greater job protection, and a pathway to accruing more service time. 

“[These] proposals are designed to improve the game, protect players’ health and safety, strengthen the free market, and provide meaningful support to our full fraternity,” the union said. 

The potential monetary impact could be significant for some players, particularly those on the fringes of MLB. The league’s minimum player salary this year is $780,000, while those on split contracts between the majors and minors have a minimum of $127,1000.

Broader Landscape

MLB has not yet formally responded to or publicly commented about the latest union proposals. The two sides, however, remain far apart on many core issues, further raising the prospect of a management lockout when the current labor agreement expires Dec. 1.

As part of a series of dramatic labor proposals made to the MLB Players Association that include a hard salary cap and floor, a heavily reworked system for player development, and a redesigned reserve system, team owners are also looking to ban all salary deferrals. 

The union, meanwhile, has also sought to expand player access to free agency and salary arbitration and raise minimum salaries, leaving the two sides with a significant ideological gap.