EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsAs part of the next collective bargaining agreement with players, Major League Baseball wants a maximum contract length of five years for free agents who are switching teams, while organizations will have the ability to keep their own players for up to six years, calling it a Cornerstone Player Provision.The potential change to free agency comes as the league addressed reserve clause issues in a Thursday meeting with the MLBPA.The league's proposal includes raising the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1 million in 2027 for players with at least two years of service time. Any player with zero or one-plus years of service time will receive $1 million if they receive a full year of service, which includes $900,000 minimum salary plus an automatic $100,000 bonus from the Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool.Additionally, players who reach five years of service time by age 30 would become eligible for free agency, a provision the union first put forth recently as part of its own CBA proposal. Currently, players of any age need six years of service time before becoming a free agent. That system has been in place since the advent of free agency in MLB in 1976.The league also proposed eliminating deferred contracts as well as the qualifying offer though didn't ask for any changes to its arbitration system.The proposals all come under the umbrella of a salary cap system, which the league previously put forth to the MLBPA. In the new system, free agents who are switching teams can sign for up to only five years and a maximum of 15% of the team's payroll with 5% increases every year of the contract. Using the Cornerstone Player Provision, a team can sign its own player for up to six years.For example, a free agent moving teams this upcoming offseason could sign a maximum contract of five years, $202 million. A team retaining its own free agent could sign him for six years at $265 million.The league has initially proposed a salary floor of $171.2 million and a ceiling of $245.3 million per team, beginning in 2027."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," MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin said. "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."Today, 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. 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."
