Negotiators representing Major League Baseball players and team owners kicked off talks Tuesday to replace the sport’s collective bargaining agreement, which expires on December 1. The discussions are expected to be lengthy and contentious, with management likely to push for a salary cap system—a proposal the players’ union has consistently vowed to reject.
The initial session, lasting roughly two hours, was held at the offices of the Major League Baseball Players Association in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center, just a short walk from MLB’s headquarters. Both sides delivered introductory presentations outlining their perspectives on the game and its financial landscape, but no formal proposals were made.
Players in attendance included New York Mets infielder Marcus Semien, a member of the union’s executive subcommittee, along with Mets teammates Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Austin Slater, and Sean Manaea. Several Detroit Tigers players, who were in town to face the Mets, also participated, with additional players joining via video conference.
“It’s the first one I’ve attended, so I don’t have much to compare it to,” Holmes said. “It was just initial meetings, the first time the sides got together and shared their thoughts on where things stand and what they think is best for the game moving forward.”
The current five-year labor pact runs out on December 1. Commissioner Rob Manfred has repeatedly indicated that ownership prefers a lockout during the offseason rather than a strike during the regular season, aiming to avoid canceling games. Baseball hasn’t lost regular-season contests due to a work stoppage since the lengthy 1994-95 strike, which wiped out the World Series for the first time in 90 years.
Previous negotiations for the last agreement began in April 2021 and concluded on March 10, 2022, preserving the 162-game schedule only after both sides missed several deadlines. Manfred had initially announced the cancellation of 184 games, which were later restored.
Bruce Meyer will lead the union’s negotiating team once again, now in his new role as interim union head. He stepped up from deputy director in February after the forced resignation of Tony Clark, a former All-Star first baseman who had led the union since Michael Weiner’s death in 2013.
Deputy commissioner Dan Halem heads MLB’s negotiating team for the third consecutive labor deal. Neither MLB nor Meyer commented on Tuesday’s session.
“I think player engagement as a whole seems really high right now,” Holmes added. “Guys want to hear and be there, so it’s about passing along things you see, learn, or just having conversations.”
Some team owners have argued that a salary cap system, paired with a salary floor, is necessary to improve competitive balance. Unlike the NFL, NBA, and NHL, MLB has never implemented a hard cap but has used a luxury tax since 2003 to curb spending.
“When I talk to players, I don’t try to convince them a salary cap would be good,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America last summer. “I point to a problem in the media business and explain that owners need to change to address it. Then I highlight a second issue: fans in many markets believe we have a competitive balance problem.”
Recent spending trends suggest restraints haven’t significantly impacted teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets. The Dodgers shattered MLB’s spending records last year with a combined $515 million in payroll and luxury tax, according to final figures from the commissioner’s office, en route to a second straight World Series title. They are projected to top the spending list again in 2026. The ratio between the five highest spenders and the five lowest rose from 3.6 in 2021 to a record 4.7 last year.
The union maintains that a salary cap would reduce overall player spending, while management argues that a cap and floor would benefit the majority of players.
Players have amassed a potential war chest of $415 million in cash and investments heading into 2026. MLB has also been stockpiling cash, withholding approximately $75 million per club from central fund distributions in preparation for bargaining.
