Legal - Baseball Wiretap

Major League Baseball has secured owner support to let players participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics for the first time, but disagreements with the MLBPA over hotel rooms, tickets and mandatory participation have complicated the plan, sources told ESPN. Emails and documents obtained by ESPN show the dispute has spanned several months.

MLB plans to shut down the sport for 11 days to accommodate a West Coast All-Star Game ahead of a six-team Olympic tournament at Dodger Stadium. The MLBPA has resisted signing off on LA28's proposal, instead seeking terms similar to the agreement the NHL and NHLPA reached with the International Olympic Committee for the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.

Interest in Olympic participation has grown following the success of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, with the United States, Dominican Republic and champion Venezuela already qualified for the tournament.

Negotiations have touched on hotel rooms, tickets, insurance, NIL rights and a mandatory-participation agreement that would place noncompliant players on the restricted list without pay from July 12 to Aug. 3, according to a copy of the league's proposal. MLB's goal is to ensure the tournament features top stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.

The union has objected specifically to the restricted-list provision and to commissioner Rob Manfred's proposed authority to discipline players for cause with fines or unpaid suspensions. The MLBPA has not yet submitted its own counterproposal.

Bryce Harper voiced strong support for playing in the Games.

"It's such a great opportunity for all athletes to come together in all different walks of life, all different cultures. I love it," said Harper. "I think it'd be great. I hope it works out. I grew up watching the Summer Olympics. I was in one of the greatest eras of Olympics of all time. Michael Phelps, are you kidding me? There was nothing like it."

MLBPA special adviser Ian Penny wrote in a June 26 email that the union is seeking fair treatment for players given the financial value they would bring to the Games.

"Ideally," wrote Penny, "that consideration would closely align with the value created and include direct compensation. However, what these proposals are largely designed to accomplish is to prevent our members from losing money by participating, whether due to expenses incurred or commercial rights lost, both individually and collectively."

LA28 vice president of sports Niccolo Campriani defended the league's offer in a separate email to top officials.

"We believe this package appropriately recognizes the significance of MLB players participating in the LA28 Olympic Games while balancing the many interests involved," wrote Campriani. "No league is getting more favorable terms than this."

In order to accommodate the tournament, MLB has proposed ending the first half July 9, 2028, holding the All-Star Game July 11, and running the Olympic tournament from July 13 to July 19 before resuming the regular season July 21. The league has also proposed pushing the 2028 season start back a week to March 23 rather than extending the postseason.

Each Olympic roster would include 28 players, raising concerns about the toll on major league rosters and pitcher health, concerns that have similarly limited participation in the World Baseball Classic. Harper reiterated his hope that a deal gets finalized.

"If I have an opportunity to put the American flag and USA on my chest again at the level of the Olympics, it would mean everything to me," said Harper. "I've wanted it for a long time, and I would love to be there. You're trying to grow this game internationally, and I don't think there's a better place to do that than the Olympics."

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer offered sharply different views Tuesday on the league's "Level the Field" advertising campaign, which promotes a salary cap ahead of the next collective bargaining agreement. Both spoke from the All-Star Game.

Manfred defended the league's decision to run the ads publicly.

"I think when you have a difficult public issue, particularly when the other side of the issue is being very public about what their views are on the negotiation, I think it's incumbent on us to keep our fans informed of our view of the world," said Manfred. "Particularly given sometimes the other side may not be completely accurate or fair in terms of their recitation of what's going on."

Meyer pushed back, arguing the campaign contradicts the league's own claims about the sport's health.

"I have watched over the last two years [how] the owners, the commissioner's office, try to convince fans, the consumers of their product, that the product is broken," said Meyer. "I think it's perverse. Case in point is leading up to this All-Star Game, any of us who watch baseball ... are seeing ads not so much for the All-Star Game, not promoting the game, not promoting the players, [but] promoting the league's desire for a salary cap."

The current CBA expires Dec. 1, with a lockout widely expected before a new deal is reached. MLB has proposed a salary cap and floor for the first time in league history, while the union has countered with a mechanism to raise spending at the bottom without imposing a ceiling at the top.

Manfred pointed to rule changes like the pitch clock as evidence the league has built momentum it wants to protect.

"We've got that momentum by listening to our fans and making changes that candidly the MLBPA was not interested in," said Manfred. "Those changes have paid off in terms of creating that momentum. And the best way to lose momentum is to stand still."

Manfred also cited payroll disparity as justification for a cap, noting a $441 million gap between the highest- and lowest-spending teams.

"The gap is $441 million," said Manfred. "It defies human experience to ask a fan to think that the bottom end of that gap has the same opportunity to win as the top end."

Meyer rejected that framing, arguing a cap would protect ownership rather than improve competition.

"The owners want a system that not only guarantees their profits, not only increases their franchise values, but essentially is a form of subsidized mediocrity," said Meyer. "A salary cap is the ultimate excuse not to compete."

Asked whether competitive smaller-market teams undercut his argument, Manfred acknowledged the point but maintained his broader stance.

"It gives Bruce talking points," said Manfred. "We know that. But I think from our perspective, the more important issue is what is the aggregate data over time? I think our view of the world is that over a very long period of time, there's a very strong relationship between who gets into playoffs and who proceeds."

Manfred declined to speculate on potential involvement from President Donald Trump, who has previously said he supports a salary cap for the sport.

"I think it would be wildly, wildly inappropriate for me to speculate about what the President of the United States might do or not do in a hypothetical situation," said Manfred. "We know this. He is a great sports fan and he is really knowledgeable about the business of sports, so it doesn't surprise me he's interested. But beyond that, I'm going to pass."

Major League Baseball has proposed capping free agent contracts at five years for players switching teams and six years for clubs retaining their own players under a new collective bargaining framework presented to the MLB Players Association on Thursday. The changes would take effect after the 2027 season.

The league's six-year retention provision, dubbed the Cornerstone Player Provision, mirrors the NBA's Bird Rights system, allowing teams to offer longer deals to keep their own free agents. Under the proposed salary cap structure, a free agent moving teams could sign for a maximum of five years and $202 million, while a team retaining its own player could offer six years at $265 million.

The league also proposed raising the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1 million in 2027 for players with at least two years of service time, the largest single-year minimum increase in MLB history. Players with fewer than two years of service would receive a $900,000 minimum plus an automatic $100,000 bonus from the Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool upon completing a full season.

Additionally, MLB proposed allowing players who reach five years of service time by age 30 to become eligible for free agency, one year earlier than the current six-year threshold that has been in place since 1976. The league also proposed eliminating deferred contracts and the qualifying offer system.

The league has initially proposed a salary floor of $171.2 million and a ceiling of $245.3 million per team beginning in 2027.

The MLBPA pushed back sharply, rejecting both a hard salary cap and maximum contract lengths.

"These misleading offers are designed to look like 'improvements' but are of little or no value, given they are expressly conditioned on agreement to the league's cap system which eliminates the free market," the union said in a statement. "Owners' attempts to pit players against players are nothing new, but they've failed in the past and will fail again now."

MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin defended the proposals, saying the salary cap structure would level the playing field for small-market clubs and allow the league to share revenue with players on a 50-50 basis.

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into whether Major League Baseball discriminated against three San Francisco Giants players on religious grounds after the league issued warnings over Bible verses written on their caps during a Pride Night game.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon detailed the inquiry in a letter sent to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday, noting the matter has been referred to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for further review.

"The three players expressed their opposition to MLB's pro-Pride orthodoxy," wrote Dhillon, in the letter posted on X. "The Civil Rights Act prohibits MLB and its franchises from unreasonably burdening the rights of players with religious objections to serving as the League's vehicle for pro-Pride messages."

Pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote variations of a Genesis verse on their caps for the Giants' Pride Night game on June 12. A fourth pitcher, Sam Hentges, opted not to wear the rainbow-logo cap at all, choosing the standard black-and-orange version instead. None of the three players faced fines or formal discipline, though the league issued each a verbal warning.

MLB pointed back to a Tuesday statement explaining its position.

"To be clear, this routine verbal warning not to wear the hat in future games is not disciplinary and had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message," the league said. "We respect players' right to free expression... We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as 'Dad,' 'Happy Mother's Day, I Love Mom,' and names of family members."

Dhillon's letter cited MLB's past allowance of "Black Lives Matter" patches as evidence of what she called a double standard. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) raised similar concerns in a Tuesday letter to Manfred, alleging a "pattern of discrimination" against Christian players.

Roupp explained his choice to reporters after the game, pointing to the Genesis passage's description of a rainbow as a covenant between God and "every living creature." "It's just about God's covenant and a promise that he makes to us that, you know, his faithfulness and his mercy," said Roupp. "That's just kind of something I believe in, and I stand firm in that, and I'm thankful we live in a country where, you know, we have the freedom to believe what we want... and express what we want."

The Giants issued a statement following backlash, reaffirming support for Pride Night while acknowledging the players' choices caused pain within the LGBTQ+ community. The league's uniform policy bars players from writing on caps or modifying uniforms under the current collective bargaining agreement.

MLB's salary cap proposal shares elements with all three major North American sports leagues but mirrors the NHL most closely, while introducing an escrow system that has become a central point of conflict in ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with the MLB Players Association.

Here is how the existing cap structures in the NFL, NBA and NHL currently operate.

The NFL operates under a hard cap tied directly to league revenue, with players receiving between 48.5% and 48.8% of gross revenue. Teams must stay under the ceiling at all times, with no escrow system. The floor requires each team to spend at least 90% of the cap over rolling multi-year periods. The 2026 cap stands at $301.2 million per team.

The NBA uses a soft cap with a 51/49 revenue split favoring players. Teams can exceed the cap but face escalating luxury tax penalties and roster-building restrictions at the first and second apron thresholds. There is no hard ceiling, though the apron system limits flexibility for the highest-spending clubs. The NBA withholds 10% of player salaries in escrow annually, a mechanism that cost players $480 million last season.

The NHL operates under a hard cap set at $104 million for 2026-27, with players and owners splitting hockey-related revenue 50/50. The salary floor sits at $76.9 million. Teams must be cap-compliant at the season's start, though long-term injured reserve exceptions provide limited flexibility. There is also an escrow system in place.

MLB's proposal features a $243.5 million ceiling and a $171.2 million floor with a 50/50 revenue split, a hard cap structure and an escrow holdback of up to 10%. The MLBPA has resisted all three elements, arguing the combination produces the least favorable cap arrangement of any major professional sport.

With the first round of proposals exchanged, the MLBPA is seeking a competitive-integrity tax targeting low-spending teams, a rise in the base competitive-balance tax threshold from $244 million to $300 million, and hundreds of millions more directed toward players through the pre-arbitration bonus pool and higher minimum salaries. Talks are expected to continue over the coming months, with neither side showing signs of movement from its current stance.

Commissioner Rob Manfred on Wednesday acknowledged that he worries that Major League Baseball's labor negotiations could lead to a long work stoppage resembling the 1994-95 players' strike that cost the league 948 regular-season games and the entire 1994 postseason.

"Of course I do," Manfred said Wednesday during the owners meetings. "We want to make an agreement. We made a proposal on one set of topics. At the outset of negotiations, I went and said myself, 'We're open to whatever ideas people have, but we need a realistic framework that addresses the fans' concerns about competitive balance.' You just can't ignore that financial penalties have not gotten it done for us."

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."