Legal - Baseball Wiretap

MLB Players Association interim executive director Bruce Meyer said Monday he was caught off guard by the details of the salary cap proposal owners submitted last week, asserting the union's analysis shows players would earn less overall under the plan, with amateur signees facing the steepest losses.

"I thought they would try harder to make it look good, and they didn't even do that," Meyer said on a video conference call with reporters.

The union estimates players would have lost more than $500 million in 2026 had the league's proposed system been in place. MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin pushed back, saying major league players would actually receive more compensation in year one of the cap system than they earned in 2026.

A central point of dispute is how revenue and player share are calculated. Meyer argued the league's 50/50 split is misleading because the formula deducts billions in expenses before calculating each side's portion.

"It's not even a real 50 percent," Meyer said.

The union also contends the league's financial projections implicitly eliminate or drastically reduce the roughly $600 million clubs currently pay annually to domestic and international amateur prospects. Meyer said no formal proposal on amateur compensation has been submitted, but the numbers point in that direction.

"They projected MLB players' payroll in '27, '28, would be flat," Meyer said. "The only way to get to even those numbers would be to drastically reduce or eliminate amateur entry compensation, both domestic and international."

The two sides also clashed over how to measure payroll disparity. Commissioner Rob Manfred last week cited a $446 million gap between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Miami Marlins. Meyer countered that figure incorrectly folds luxury tax penalties into payroll totals, inflating the gap.

No further bargaining sessions are scheduled. The current labor agreement expires December 1, and a lockout is widely anticipated if no deal is reached by then.

"Our union has never been broken and never will be," Meyer said. "You can take away a different lesson from our history, but that would be a big mistake."

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper says MLB's push for a salary cap in collective bargaining agreement talks threatens the sport's hard-won growth in attendance, ratings, and global reach, as owners and players exchange sharply opposed opening proposals.

The MLB Players Association has sought higher minimum salaries, elevated luxury-tax thresholds, and an expanded pre-arbitration bonus program. The league, representing its 30 clubs, countered with a strict cap-and-floor structure modeled after the NHL, along with a 50/50 revenue split.

Harper cited the Los Angeles Dodgers, two-time defending champions carrying a projected competitive-balance-tax payroll above $400 million, as central to baseball's recent growth. He argued a cap would undercut the type of organization driving the sport's popularity.

"Our game is in a great direction, in a great place, because of the Los Angeles Dodgers," Harper said. "Obviously they make a lot of money, they're able to get free agents, but the Dodgers don't just do that. They draft well. They do a very good job in the minors, developing guys. Other teams can't do that. You can spend all the money in the world, but you can have a terrible farm system and not have teams come up."

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, a back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner and member of the MLBPA's executive subcommittee, shared Harper's skepticism about the cap's stated rationale.

"I don't think it impacts what they think it impacts in terms of having an even playing field," Skubal told ESPN's Jesse Rogers on Friday. "I don't think that a salary cap does that by any means, so it didn't matter that the floor may have been higher than people thought, even though the ceiling is still kind of low. It doesn't matter what the numbers are, so to speak."

The league's opening cap figure stands at $245.3 million, with a floor of $171.2 million. Under those terms, 12 clubs would need to collectively add $617 million in payroll while eight teams would need to cut a combined $578 million. An escrow mechanism tied to the 50/50 revenue guarantee also drew concern. A comparable NBA system cost players nearly $500 million in a single year.

The last MLB salary cap push ended the 1994 season before a World Series was played. MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer raised that history in his formal response to ownership's proposal Thursday. Another work stoppage is widely expected within six months.

"It's just the first proposal," Harper said. "I don't want to miss games. I don't think anybody wants to miss games. I'm getting later in my career, I don't want to miss games. I would love to get this done, on a personal level, just because I don't want to do that, but we'll see."

Major League Baseball owners formally presented their opening economic proposal to the Players Association in New York on Thursday, revealing a $245.3 million salary cap and $171.2 million salary floor for 2027, the first year of a proposed new labor agreement.

The league is seeking a 50-50 revenue split and proposed a seven-year deal, two years longer than the standard five-year agreement. Under the plan, all local television revenues would become centralized income shared equally across all 30 clubs, a significant shift that affects large-market teams like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

"The biggest issue we need to solve next to continue to grow the game off the field is fixing the payroll disparity unseen in any other major U.S. sport," said league spokesperson Glen Caplin.

The Players Association rejected the proposal firmly. Union interim director Bruce Meyer cited the 1994-95 strike, which lasted 232 days, as a direct consequence of the last serious cap push.

"Caps don't lower ticket prices for fans, eliminate tanking or ensure teams are run with equal competence," said Meyer. "They suffocate competition by offering owners an all-purpose excuse for inaction and mediocrity."

Twelve franchises would need to increase payroll by a combined $617 million to meet the floor, including the Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Colorado Rockies. Eight clubs, among them the Dodgers, Yankees, and  Boston Red Sox, would need to reduce payroll by a combined $578 million.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires December 1. A lockout is widely anticipated if no deal is reached. A work stoppage extending into 2027 could threaten regular-season games.

The MLB Players Association submitted its opening proposal in collective bargaining talks Wednesday, presenting sweeping changes to the sport's financial structure while making no mention of a salary cap, as MLB prepares to formally propose a hard cap-and-floor system for the first time in more than three decades.

The union's proposal includes raising the base Competitive Balance Tax threshold from $244 million to $300 million, nearly doubling the major-league minimum salary, expanding local television revenue sharing, and introducing a "competitive-integrity tax" penalizing low-spending clubs that mirrors the existing CBT structure for high-spending teams.

"Today, the MLBPA presented a comprehensive set of economic proposals designed to advance the rights and benefits of players at all levels," said MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer. "Our goal is to preserve and improve baseball's market system, rewarding competition on and off the field."

MLB responded cautiously, acknowledging the proposal while questioning its impact on competitive balance.

"We appreciate the union making a set of proposals and we look forward to continuing the bargaining process," said MLB spokesman Glen Caplin. "Unfortunately, they do not address and in fact exacerbate the competitive balance problem our fans are telling us we must address. Under the Union's proposal, the Dodgers would pay less in luxury tax payments, giving them an additional $70 million to spend on payroll."

Additional elements of the union's proposal include raising the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1.5 million in 2027, scaling to $2.2 million by 2031, expanding the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $50 million to $180 million, allowing players 30 and older to reach free agency after five years of service time, and eliminating the qualifying offer system.

The current CBA expires December 1. MLB would likely lock out players again if no agreement is reached, potentially threatening the 2027 season. The previous labor dispute produced a 99-day lockout finalized in March 2022.

The MLB remains the only major North American professional sports league without a cap-and-floor system. The league is expected to formally propose one Thursday.

"Players across the league are engaged and involved," said MLBPA executive subcommittee member Brent Suter. "We're committed to leaving our game better for every generation of player that follows us onto the field."

Travis Kelce is purchasing a minority stake in the Cleveland Guardians. Kelce grew up in the Cleveland area as a fan of the Guardians. The Guardians are valued at $1.7 billion, up from $1 billion in 2022.

"I have so much love for this city," Kelce told ESPN. "I say it all the time: I'm just a kid from the Heights living the dream. I credit every good thing in my life to Cleveland and being raised here with the values and the people and the work ethic. Cleveland Heights is such a diverse and dynamic place. Every friend, neighbor, teacher and teammate -- they all made me the man I am today. It just fueled such a deep appreciation for life and community and service. That mentality of Cleveland against the world runs deep.

"I've been lucky enough to have a front-row seat to good ownership in my career, and I know the best teams prioritize culture. Everyone is there to play their role, and right now, I'm here to observe and learn and really to support the team and the city when and where I can."

Other current athletes who have become minority investors in baseball teams include LeBron James (Boston Red Sox), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Brewers), Cade Cunningham (Texas Rangers) and Kelce's Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes, who in July 2020 became a minority owner of the Kansas City Royals.

Kelce was an excellent baseball player in high school, hitting .588 with six homers as a senior in 2008. 

"I think I had always felt most confident on the diamond," Kelce said. "I was playing every sport growing up, but baseball was actually the only one I had early interest from scouts, so I really did think it was a viable option for me. The football thing chose me at the end of the day, and when I moved to tight end, it really took off for me.

"I mean, it's hard to find a better feeling in sports than hitting a home run. But the best part about playing baseball growing up for me was enjoying it with the fellas and their families I played with. I was lucky enough to be on some great teams growing up on the east side of Cleveland."

The Tampa Bay Rays and local officials announced a tentative $2.3 billion agreement Thursday for a new ballpark funded by public and private money.

The nonbinding memorandum of understanding among the Rays, Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa outlines the costs of a stadium, which would include $967 million of tax dollars. Elected officials for the city and county are expected to vote on the deal at separate meetings next week.

Representatives from Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association met Tuesday in New York City to open what is expected to be a prolonged labor negotiation, with a December lockout widely viewed as a likely outcome, according to a person briefed on the talks.

Tuesday's session involved opening presentations rather than formal proposals. Both sides outlined their views of the sport's current condition. Formal economic proposals will follow in subsequent meetings.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on December 1. If no deal is in place by then, owners are expected to institute a lockout, as they did five years ago. The more pressing concern is whether an agreement can be reached in time to preserve a full 2027 season. During the 2021-22 lockout, the sides reached a deal on March 10, 2022.

MLB is expected to propose a salary cap and salary floor, framing both as tools to improve competitive balance. Players have historically opposed a cap system on economic grounds, and union leadership signaled that position has not changed.

"Our union historically has been against it and it's because we believe it's quite simply not good for players," said Bruce Meyer, interim head of the players' union. "We are preparing for a concerted push on the other side for a salary cap, and we're ready for it, and our players are ready for it."

The negotiations unfold as baseball enjoys a period of commercial strength. League revenues surpassed $12 billion in 2024, boosted by rule changes including the pitch clock and the global appeal of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.

The union enters talks in a weakened state following the removal of longtime executive director Tony Clark this spring and an active federal probe by the Eastern District of New York into the handling of union finances. Owners may test the organization's resolve given the leadership transition.

If a lockout takes effect in December, all roster activity including trades and signings would halt until a new agreement is reached.

Longtime Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, who won more than 2,500 games in his career and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014, has died, the team announced on Saturday.

He was 84.

MLB is averaging 2.28 million viewers per national game through the first weekend in May, a 44 percent increase from the comparable period last year and the best such figure since 2017. The gains span all four national broadcast partners: ESPN, Fox, NBC Sports, and Netflix.

The overall increase includes Opening Day viewership records for both Netflix and NBC, along with a 40 percent lift for Fox's Saturday coverage. This is MLB's first season under a restructured national media deal, with ESPN, Netflix, and NBC all operating under bridge agreements through 2028.

MLB is not alone in its viewership surge. The NBA, NHL, and Kentucky Derby have each posted double-digit audience gains in recent weeks. The NFL Draft was a notable exception, falling 12 percent in part due to limited star power among the selected players following the selection of No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza.

Nielsen's evolving measurement methodology is a factor worth noting. The agency has expanded out-of-home tabulation and introduced its Big Data + Panel process, with enhanced co-viewing tabulation expected this fall. However, analysts generally view MLB's gains as exceeding any increases attributable to Nielsen's procedural changes.

On the attendance front, MLB's per-game average sits at 28,141 through Wednesday, up 2.9 percent from 2025. The Toronto Blue Jays lead all teams with a nominal increase of more than 12,000 per game, reaching a home average above 40,000. The New York Mets are the league's largest decliner, shedding more than 3,000 per game from their 2025 average. The viewership and attendance momentum arrives as MLB and the Players Association begin labor negotiations.

John Sterling, the theatrical radio voice of the New York Yankees for parts of 36 seasons, has died, the team and radio station WFAN announced Monday. He was 87.

Sterling had heart bypass surgery this winter and was attended by health care aides at his home in Edgewater, New Jersey, after the procedure. The Yankees said he died at a New Jersey hospital.