As most baseball fans know by now, Major League Baseball is staring down the barrel of a work stoppage after this season. We have known that CBA negotiations would be tense for a while. After the success of the big money Dodgers, the idea of a salary cap has come up more than ever. Over the past couple days, we saw the opening proposals from the MLB and the MLBPA.
I wanted to break down the proposals, talk about how far the two sides have to go, and discuss what it means for the Nats. The great Jeff Passan actually wrote a good piece explaining the situation. It really seems like the only question is how long will the lockout last, not whether there will be a lockout.
The last time owners pushed for a salary cap was back in 1994. If you have been following the game long enough, you would know that was a disaster. A work stoppage interrupted the season, and there was no World Series in 1994. The Expos, the Nats predecessors, were rolling that year, but never got to go all the way. That was a big turning point in the downfall of that franchise.
Advertisement
Over 30 years later, the owners are pushing for a cap again. In their initial proposal, the owners proposed a $245.3 million cap and a $171.2 million floor. The plan would also include a redistribution of the TV revenue to make this possible. Right now, 6 teams are above that cap and 15 teams are below the floor. This would seriously change baseball forever.
Honestly, the cap is lower than I thought it would be and the floor is higher. This proposal would really force Mark Lerner to spend money. Right now, the Nats are $77 million below the proposed floor. If something like this passes, the Nats would have to extend players, trade for larger contracts and sign free agents. As a fan of the Nats, that is fine by me.
For fans of bigger market teams and the players association, this proposal will not make them happy. Right now, the Dodgers and Mets are both $50 million over the cap. They would have to shed serious payroll and not spend any money to be compliant. That would make their fans and the players upset.
Advertisement
Now, we turn to the player’s proposal. They have proposed a $150 million floor, but obviously have no cap with it. The players also want to increase the minimum salary, which is an idea I can get behind. Guys like James Wood are making peanuts compared to what they deserve. Lastly, they want the CBT threshold to go from $244 million to $300 million. That last proposal just seems like a non-starter given the concerns about parity. This would allow teams like the Dodgers to spend even more.
It is clear that the two sides are very far apart. They do have some common ground, especially when it comes to revenue sharing. Both sides seem to know that there needs to be more revenue sharing for this system to work. The Dodgers TV deal can’t absolutely dwarf any other teams. That is not a viable system, and both sides know it.
So what happens if/when the lockout comes. Well, any player on the 40-man roster is pretty much out of commission. This could have some impact on what the Nats do later in the season. Yohandy Morales will be Rule-5 eligible after the season, so they have to put him on the 40-man anyway. That means his potential big league call up won’t be affected by this.
Advertisement
However, for players like Seaver King and Jackson Kent, this could leave them in the minors longer than they otherwise would be. The organization is not going to want to have them on the 40-man and not play games in the minors next year. By the way, the minor leagues are not impacted by this other than the 40-man roster players. I really enjoy minor league baseball, and fans might have to lock into that, at least to start next season.
Many people have theorized that this lockout could cost us all of next season. While I think the start of next season will be delayed, I have faith that they will figure it out. Once games are missed, the pressure will amp up on both sides to get something done. It won’t be pretty, but I believe we will see Major League Baseball at some point in 2027.
Read the full article here