Business & Finance
MLB proposes restricted free-agent signing windows contingent on salary cap
Major League Baseball has outlined a plan to compress offseason free agency and trades, but the proposal requires player union acceptance of a salary cap.
The short version
- Major League Baseball proposed restricting free-agent signings to a few weeks in December and restarting them in early February each offseason.
- The plan would also institute a ban on trades during the intervening period between the signing windows.
- Implementation depends on the MLB Players Association accepting a salary cap system, a concept the union has previously vowed to reject.
- The proposal includes additional roster changes, such as reducing minor league options and increasing active pitcher limits.
Key facts
- MLB presented a proposal to the players' association that would limit free-agent signings to several weeks in December and from early February onward each offseason.[Associated Press]
- The proposal includes a trade ban during the gap between the two free-agency signing windows.[Associated Press]
- The entire transaction plan is contingent on the union accepting MLB's salary cap proposal from May, which the union has previously stated it will not accept.[Associated Press]
- MLB's proposal also includes reducing maximum in-season minor league options from five to four, adopting weekly rosters, and raising the pitcher cap on 26-man rosters from 13 to 14 through August 31.[Associated Press]
What remains uncertain
- The players' association did not immediately respond publicly to the proposal, leaving its official stance on this specific package unknown.[Associated Press]