MLB players counter league with draft plan as CBA fight heats up

The MLB Players Association has answered Major League Baseball’s proposed draft overhaul with a plan of its own, CBS Sports reported, adding another flashpoint to labor talks that already include a fierce salary-cap fight.

According to CBS Sports, the union presented its draft proposal during a negotiating session with the league on July 21. The current collective bargaining agreement expires before the 2027 season, and the two sides remain divided on several major economic issues.

The players’ proposal would keep the MLB Draft at 20 rounds, preserve eligibility for high school and junior college players, and expand college eligibility to include sophomores, according to the report. It would also move the draft back to June after it was shifted to July in 2021 to line up with All-Star festivities.

That timing has been a long-running concern for front offices, CBS Sports noted, because the July draft lands close to the trade deadline and compresses two major roster-building events into the same stretch of the calendar.

What the MLBPA wants changed

The union’s plan pushes back on MLB’s earlier proposal to cut the domestic draft from 20 rounds to 12 and remove high school players from eligibility. MLB had also proposed a hard bonus system tied to draft position.

According to CBS Sports, the MLBPA proposal includes:

• Keeping the current 20-round draft format.
• Maintaining eligibility for high school and junior college players.
• Allowing college sophomores to be drafted.
• Increasing draft signing bonus pools.
• Keeping competitive-balance draft picks for small-market and lower-revenue clubs.
• Rejecting hard slot bonuses and keeping bonus negotiations for drafted players.
• Letting lower-revenue teams raise their draft bonus pools, with automatic increases for lower-revenue playoff teams.
• Reducing penalties for clubs that exceed their draft bonus pool.
• Allowing draft-pick trades, subject to restrictions that have not yet been specified.
• Returning the draft to June.

The MLBPA also proposed increasing money paid to draftees through the incentive bonus plan. CBS Sports reported that the union wants to end what it described as clubs deducting certain bonuses from players’ continuing education benefits.

MLB’s earlier pitch drew a sharp union response

MLB’s June 18 proposal called for a 12-round domestic draft, a $200 million hard bonus system and draft eligibility centered on college-aged players. The league also proposed an international draft for players outside the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, with a $200 million bonus cap, according to CBS Sports.

In a statement reported by CBS Sports at the time, MLB said college baseball has changed through expanded scholarships, NIL opportunities, revenue sharing and investment in facilities and player development. The league said its proposal was meant to build on that growth and help players move through college and into professional baseball more quickly.

The MLBPA rejected that view. In its response, the union said MLB’s proposal would remove more than $1 billion in player compensation from the domestic and international systems over five years, bar players under 20 from the domestic draft and delay the first international draft until at least September 2027, and possibly March 2028.

The salary-cap fight still towers over talks

The draft debate is only one piece of the bargaining table. CBS Sports reported that owners’ push for a salary cap remains the biggest dispute, while the union continues to oppose the idea.

MLB’s first formal proposal in late May included a 2027 payroll cap of $245.3 million, a payroll floor of $171.2 million, a 50-50 revenue split between clubs and players, and equal sharing of local revenues, according to CBS Sports.

The MLBPA’s opening economic proposal included a minimum salary increase from $780,000 to $1.5 million, a higher luxury-tax threshold, expanded revenue sharing for smaller-market clubs, earlier free agency for some players age 30 or older, and the elimination of the qualifying offer system.

Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer both spoke publicly during All-Star week in Philadelphia. Manfred said ownership was more united than at any point in his time in baseball, while Meyer criticized MLB’s messaging on competitive balance despite rising attendance and television ratings, CBS Sports reported.

The last CBA negotiations produced a 99-day owner lockout and delayed the start of the 2022 season. With the next agreement still unsettled, the clock is already running on whether baseball can avoid another disruption before 2027.

This story draws on original reporting from CBS Sports.