MLB pushes cap-and-floor start back to 2028, but keeps 2027 changes in play

Major League Baseball is trying to separate the biggest economic overhaul from the rest of its labor plan. In its latest collective bargaining proposal, the league said a salary cap-and-floor system would not begin until 2028, one year later than previously floated, even as several other changes remain scheduled to take effect in 2027.

That delay is the central shift in Tuesday’s bargaining session between MLB and the MLB Players Association. The league said the move is meant to give clubs a full offseason to position their payrolls within the proposed range and avoid a jolt to the free-agent market that is already underway for the 2026-27 offseason. Some teams, MLB said, already have payroll commitments that would leave them near or above the cap level in 2027, while others would need to add significant salary just to reach the floor.

The revised numbers for 2028 are substantial. MLB’s proposal sets the floor at $180.2 million and the cap at $258.2 million. That is nearly $13 million higher than the league’s initial 2027 cap figure of $245.3 million, and $9 million above the initial 2027 floor figure of $171.2 million. On paper, the range still would force a large number of clubs to adjust. Based on 2026 end-of-season payrolls, 12 teams would need to raise payroll by a combined $636 million to meet the floor, while eight teams would need to trim a combined $528 million to clear the cap.

MLB spokesman Glen Caplin framed the delay as a transition issue, not a retreat from the cap-and-floor concept. He said the offseason was already underway and that beginning the system in 2028 would allow a smoother move into the new structure. The league also said the change would not postpone player benefits that it wants to preserve in the next agreement, including earlier free agency, a $1 million minimum salary, a larger pre-arbitration bonus pool and transactional reforms meant to reduce roster churn.

That distinction matters because the proposal keeps the cap-and-floor system separate from other economic and roster changes. Under MLB’s latest offer, the current revenue-sharing plan and Competitive Balance Tax would remain in place in 2027 before shifting in 2028 to a 50/50 split of baseball revenue with players and centralized media revenues. MLB also said it would allocate the players’ share of 2026 CBT proceeds as bonuses tied to service time, rather than waiting to apply that money in future seasons.

Other 2027 changes would arrive on schedule. MLB said it would accept the players’ proposal to reduce reserve time to five years for 30-year-old players, with a club still able to sign that player to a one-year contract at the average salary of the 125 highest-paid players. The league also said it would eliminate draft-pick compensation tied to the qualifying-offer system, a long-standing mechanism that can discourage teams from signing certain free agents.

The minimum salary would rise sharply in 2027, too. MLB’s proposal lifts the minimum from $780,000 to $1 million for players with at least two years of service, and to $900,000 for players with less than two years of service. The pre-arbitration bonus pool would jump 30 percent, from $50 million in 2026 to $65 million in 2027, before climbing to $75 million over the life of the agreement.

MLB is also pushing roster rules designed to make it harder to shuttle players between the majors and minors. The number of options a player can use in a season would drop from five to four, and the fourth option year would be eliminated. The league would also change roster rules around weekly moves and earlier 40-man roster protection, while other original economic proposals, including the Cornerstone Player rules, would take effect immediately.

The practical effect of the latest proposal is clear: MLB is trying to slow the most disruptive piece of its plan without giving up the rest. The cap-and-floor system is still the headline issue, but the league’s updated timeline makes 2027 the first year for several other labor changes and 2028 the target for the full economic reset.