MLB players would take a collective compensation hit of more than $500 million in 2026 compensation if the owners’ salary cap proposal were in place this year, according to a new analysis by the MLB Players Association.
Union interim executive director Bruce Meyer spoke with reporters Monday afternoon and said the hard cap proposal management offered last week is not only worse than a salary cap sought by owners in 1994, but would represent a significant retreat in player compensation, according to MLBPA analysis.
“Player share [of industry revenue], under their proposal, would go down,” Meyer said. “Your contracts are never really guaranteed.”
Meyer’s comments provide another signal just how far apart players and owners are at the outset of formal labor talks. While it’s not surprising for that to be the case at this early stage, Meyer said he was surprised by how much that’s the case in these negotiations.
“I thought they would try harder to make it look good, and they didn’t even do that,” Meyer said in response to a Front Office Sports question. “They’ve effectively managed to cobble together the worst system for players in any of the major sports, and it’s not even close.”
