With Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement set to expire on Dec. 1, 2026, team owners and the players' union have begun negotiations in hopes of reaching an agreement before Opening Day 2027.
The current CBA followed a 99-day lockout in the 2021-22 off-season, delaying the start of the 2022 campaign. Baseball has not lost games since a seven-and-a-half-month strike in 1994-95.
MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer will lead negotiations for the union while deputy commissioner Dan Halem heads MLB's negotiations team. Both led their respective sides through the talks in 2021-22.
There are sure to be many twists and turns as the two sides negotiate throughout 2026 and into 2027.
Follow along here as Sportsnet keeps you up to date on the latest proposals and news from CBA talks between MLB and the MLBPA.
July 21, 2026: MLBPA proposes changes to amateur draft
The MLBPA made its first proposals to address the MLB amateur draft. The players proposed maintaining the current economic structure of the draft, providing lower-revenue clubs better access to amateur talent and giving teams who make the post-season extra benefits.
Here are some of the main points from the MLBPA:
• Preserve eligibility for high school and junior college players to be selected while expanding eligibility to include college sophomores.
• Retain the 20-round draft.
• Increase signing bonuses.
• Keep competitive balance selections for smaller markets.
• Allow draft selections to continue negotiating signing bonuses and other benefits.
• Grant lower-revenue teams the flexibility to increase their signing bonus pools.
• Provide automatic pool increases for teams that qualify for the playoffs.
• Reduce the taxes and penalties against teams that spend over a signing bonus.
July 1, 2026: MLBPA proposes roster size, minor-league option changes
The MLBPA issued multiple proposed changes on July 1, with many addressing player health and safety, service-time protection, and roster sizes.
Here are some of the notable points proposed by the players:
• Rosters increase from 26 to 28 players with a 14-pitcher maximum for the first 15 days of the season.
• Players can be placed on the 60-day injured list as soon as the tender deadline in November.
• In-season optional assignments reduced from five to three per season.
• Players' eligibility for the Rule 5 Draft would be accelerated and ensuring that the
• Pitchers who are optioned to the minor-leagues over the all-star break or immediately following a game in which they met certain performance thresholds would receive service time and salary protection.
• All players would have access to team-collected non-proprietary performance data and video.
June 25, 2026: MLB proposes contract limits
Owners proposed multiple changes to the free-agent process, including adding a maximum contract length and eliminating deferred contracts.
These proposals, which depend on the implementation of a salary cap, are as follows:
• A maximum contract length of five years for players who switch teams on deals that can occupy 15 per cent of the cap, with five per cent increases in each year of the contract.
• A maximum contract length of six years for players who remain with their original teams on deals that can occupy 16 per cent of the cap.
• An increase to the minimum salary for players with at least two years of service time, bumping from $780,000 to $1 million.
• An increase to the minimum salary for players with less than two years of service time, bumping it to $900,000.
• Deferred contracts would be eliminated.
• Owners would accept the union's proposal for players aged 30 or older to enter free agency after five years of service time rather than six.
• Owners would accept the union's proposal to eliminate the qualifying offer.
June 18, 2026: MLB proposes sweeping draft changes
MLB proposed major changes to the amateur draft and made a push for an international draft on June 18.
Here are some of the proposed changes:
• First-year player draft moves to 12 rounds from 20.
• Teams would have a $200 million hard bonus system in the draft, in which players are paid according to their draft position with no room to negotiate.
• High school players are no longer eligible for the draft and would have to go to college. College players become draft-eligible once they turn 20 years old.
• An international draft for prospects outside of the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico would come into effect. This draft would also have a $200 million bonus cap.
June 1, 2026: MLBPA responds to cap proposal
After MLB's proposed salary cap, MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer issued a response on behalf of the union:
"Using MLB's definition of revenue and player share as set forth in their proposal and their presentation to us, player share under their proposal would go down," Meyer says. "Player share for this season, 2026, is projected to be well over 50 per cent, using again MLB's definitions of revenues and what counts against player share.
"Had MLB's proposal been in place in 2026, players, we estimate, would lose over half a billion dollars."
May 28, 2026: MLB proposes salary cap
MLB issued its first proposal on May 28, which included the first motion for a salary cap since 1994.
Here are some of the notable points from the proposal:
• A salary cap of $245.3 million, including benefits expenses, would come into effect for 2027.
• A salary floor of $171.2 million, including benefits expenses, would come into effect for 2027.
• Revenue would be split 50-50 between teams and players, which would eliminate the current revenue-sharing structure.
May 27, 2026: MLBPA makes first proposals
The union issued its first proposals to the owners on May 27, addressing a number of topics. Many of the players' initial asks had to do with baseball's salary structure.
Here are some of the most notable points from the MLBPA's starting point:
• A competitive integrity tax would be instituted against teams that don't spend a minimum amount on player salaries.
• A penalty would be introduced for teams that don't spend revenue-sharing dollars on player salaries.
• Minimum salary would increase from $780,000 to $1.5 million.
• Baseball's competitive balance tax would increase from $244 million to $300 million.
• Players aged 30 or older would enter free agency after five years of service time rather than six.
• The qualifying offer would be eliminated.
• The draft lottery would be expanded from six teams to eight.
• Lower-revenue teams would receive extra money for making the post-season or finishing above .500.
• Lower-revenue teams would receive incentives for spending in free agency.
• Local-broadcast revenue sharing would increase, but game-day revenue sharing would decrease.
May 12, 2026: Negotiations begin
Negotiators for both the players and owners met in New York at the MLBPA's head offices for about two hours.
The two sides gave initial presentations on their view of the sport and its economics.
No proposals were made.
