MLBPA opens CBA negotiations with plan to punish low-spending teams and raise luxury-tax threshold to $300M

The MLB Players Association has submitted its opening proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement, calling for a raise in the luxury-tax threshold from $244 million to $300 million, a near-doubling of the league minimum salary to $1.5 million by 2027, and the creation of a “Competitive Integrity Tax” that would penalize clubs whose payrolls fall below $150 million. The proposal, the union’s first formal offer to owners as the sport moves toward a new labor deal, was reported by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale and ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The low-payroll penalty marks a deliberate shift in the union’s strategy. Rather than focusing solely on restraining top-end spending, the MLBPA is targeting franchises that collect league revenue sharing while limiting investment in major league rosters. Under the proposal, revenue-sharing recipients would be required to direct those funds toward team payroll, and clubs falling short of the $150 million spending benchmark would face the new tax. The plan would also remove nonmonetary penalties – including draft-pick consequences – currently attached to the existing luxury tax, and would eliminate the qualifying offer system along with penalties for clubs that sign qualifying-offer free agents.

The proposal also includes expanded salary arbitration eligibility, broader pre-arbitration bonus pools, stronger protections against service-time manipulation, and an accelerated path to free agency: players with at least five years of service time who are 30 or older by November 1 would qualify, one year earlier than the current six-year standard. On revenue sharing, Sports Business Journal reported the plan would guarantee small-market clubs at least $240 million in annual revenue, contingent on that money being applied to on-field performance.

The current CBA expires on December 1, 2026, and owners are expected to again pursue some form of salary cap and floor structure – a position the MLBPA has consistently opposed. The 2021-22 labor dispute resulted in a lockout that delayed the signing of the new agreement until March 2022 and shortened spring training, though no regular-season games were lost. With both sides now on record, formal negotiations are under way, and the distance between the union’s floor-focused reforms and ownership’s preference for a cap system will define how contentious the process becomes.