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.
Nov. 3, 2026: MLB proposes starting salary cap in 2028
Up to this point, MLB's proposals have all included a salary cap for the 2027 season. But on Nov. 3, MLB instead proposed delaying the first season under a salary cap to 2028.
The new proposal would start a cap with a floor of $180.2 million and a hard ceiling of $258.2 million after the 2027 season, giving clubs time to prepare for a more restrictive framework. Based on this season’s Competitive Balance Tax payrolls, eight teams — including the Blue Jays — would need to cut salary, while 12 clubs — the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers and finalist Tampa Bay Rays among them — would need to spend more.
As part of the proposal, MLB said a number of player benefits would begin in 2027, including: free agency after five years of service instead of six for players at least 30 years old; elimination of the system that requires teams to forfeit a draft pick for signing a free agent that receives a qualifying offer; and a minimum salary of $900,000 with the chance to get it to $1 million through the pre-arbitration bonus pool.
The MLBPA was quick to push back against the proposal, saying in a statement that "MLB owners continue to propose blowing up the current system and replacing it with one designed to line their pockets and increase their franchise values. ... Players stand ready to negotiate in good faith toward a new CBA that will capitalize on our sport’s unprecedented momentum and benefit players, clubs, and fans alike."
With files from Sportsnet's Shi Davidi.
MLBPA leader Bruce Meyer met with the media ahead of Game 1 of the World Series and reaffirmed the union's opposition to a salary cap.
“It is kind of sad that the league and the owners have once again been focusing not on the greatness of the game, not on the greatness of the players, not on the greatness of the playoffs, but they’ve been focusing on basically telling the consumers of their product that their product is broken,” Meyer said.
The 2026 World Series saw the Milwaukee Brewers (19th in payroll) take on the Tampa Bay Rays (25th in payroll), while the Cleveland Guardians (last in payroll) also reached the ALCS.
Meyer said the success of those teams was proof the current system works.
“There’s no reason whatsoever that the Pirates can’t do what the Brewers have done or what the Rays have done. None whatsoever, right?” he said.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred also addressed the looming lockout with the media, pushing back on Meyer's arguments that teams in small markets can compete with teams in larger ones.
“No one ever said that differences in economics are perfectly outcome-determined," he said. “If you look at the data, our larger markets have a very statistically significant advantage in terms of making the playoffs and going deeper into the playoffs.”
With files from The Associated Press
Major League Baseball proposed to shorten the regular season to 154 games from 162 starting in 2029 and to expand the Division Series to best-of-seven in a plan given to players during collective bargaining Thursday.
Owners also proposed adding nine additional days off to the current post-season format, extending it to a maximum of 42 days in a move that would give top starting pitchers the potential to appear more often.
MLB would allow higher-seeded teams in the first two rounds of the post-season to pick their opponents beginning next year and would make most regular-season Mondays a day off for the vast majority of teams starting in 2029 except for those in up to two nationally broadcast games.
Cutting regular-season games would reduce the opportunity for players to set season and career records.
“Returning to a 154-game schedule would allow us to introduce a weekly off day, which is good for player health, while also creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players," MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement.
The players' association said it will review the plan and will respond at the bargaining table.
Baseball's five-year labour contract expires Dec. 1, and management is expected to lock out players in a confrontation that could delay or wipe out the 2027 season. MLB proposed a salary cap, which the union has vowed to never accept, along with limits on contract values and length.
“Unfortunately, the league once again made clear that all of its proposals are contingent on players’ agreement to a salary cap, a system that guts player rights and compensation, as well as its other anti-player proposals,” the union said in a statement.
With files from The Associated Press
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.
