Overview
- Owners offered a proposal Friday that would cap team payrolls at $245.3 million, set a $171.2 million floor, centralize local media revenue and seek a 50-50 split of defined baseball revenue.
- The Major League Baseball Players Association has formally rejected any hard cap and countered with its own plan that guarantees expanded revenue sharing and a $150 million payroll minimum for clubs.
- Payroll estimates show nine teams would be above the proposed cap and 12 teams would fall below the floor, forcing big spending cuts for some high-payroll clubs and large increases for many small-market teams.
- High-profile figures have taken sides, with Mets star Juan Soto publicly opposing a cap because of how it would treat existing mega-contracts and President Trump endorsing a cap during remarks Friday.
- With the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire on Dec. 1, the entrenched positions raise a realistic prospect of an owners' lockout that could disrupt spring training or the 2027 regular season, reviving memories of the 1994-95 work stoppage.