The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.The league made its first official proposal to the MLBPA, and yes, it includes a salary cap. Plus: A wild Baseball Card of the Week, Jayson Stark on an NL Cy Young contender and we get an answer to the question of CB Bucknor’s whereabouts. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!CBA Negotiations: League counters with expected capYesterday, we told you about the MLBPA’s first official proposal, as the CBA negotiations began in earnest. Less than 24 hours later, the league offered its first counter-proposal.Much to the surprise of absolutely nobody, the league officially proposed a salary cap ($245.3 million) and floor ($171.2 million).But the cap-and-floor system isn’t as simple as those two numbers. Included in the league’s proposal was an escrow system. Evan Drellich explains:“Under that format, players would put a portion of their salaries aside, and once the league’s annual revenues are calculated, players would either give some of that money back to MLB or receive additional payments. The NFL, NBA and NHL all have cap-and-floor systems, and versions of escrow with them.”One other interesting wrinkle: The league also proposed funneling all local TV revenue into central TV revenue, which it says would address the much-maligned blackout rules. Don’t get too excited — that is almost certainly something the league would only allow if they get the cap. The union has vehemently opposed a cap for decades. Let’s’ look at a couple paragraphs from Ken Rosenthal’s article on this, because he makes a great point:“The league wants both a hard cap and floor, insisting in a statement that ‘fans in too many markets have too little hope their team has a fair chance to win.’ That’s what this is all about, the league keeps telling us. Bowing to the wishes of fans who ‘overwhelmingly’ support a cap, out of the goodness of the owners’ hearts.