The current collective bargaining agreement expires in le s than 18 months. Its widely expected therell be another offseason lockout and contentious round of labor negotiations after the CBA wraps on December 1, 2026. MLB commi sioner Rob Manfred provided some hints at potential talking points in comments at an Investor Day event for the Braves Vinny Capra Jersey last month (as covered by ). Manfred said hes making an effort to pitch the leagues me sage directly to individual players. I dont think the leadership of (the MLBPA) is anxious to lead the way to change, he stated. So we need to energize the workforce in order to get them familiar with or supportive of the idea that maybe changing the system could be good for everybody. The commi sioner suggested hes seeking out players who find themselves at the lower end of the earning spectrum to stre s the discrepancy in player salaries. 10% of our players earn 72% of the money, he said, though he did not provide specifics at that event as to how the salary distribution was calculated. So I usually try to avoid the high-earning guy at this point, and find a younger player and say if youre one of the 10%, its a great deal. But if youre the other 90, it aint so good.' Manfred went on to suggest that players have lost a significant chunk of revenue over the past handful of bargaining agreements. My first deal where I was the chief negotiator in 2002, we were spending 63% of revenue on players, he said. Today, we spend about 47% on players. The math means you the players are getting a smaller and smaller percentage of each dollar, and, in fact, if we had a made a deal 10 years ago to share 50-50, you wouldve made $2.5 billion more than you made. Unsurprisingly, his comments were met with a sharp rebuke from the MLB Players A sociation. The union argued that Manfred is trying to weaken solidarity by pitting players against one another. MLBPA executive director Tony Clark told that the commi sioners quotes contained misleading or downright false statements. Clark added within his statement that MLBs stated plan is once again to try to divide players from each other and their union in service of a system that would add to the owners profits and franchise values. Theres a general expectation that the league will again try to get the Players A sociation to move off their longstanding firm refusal to entertain a salary cap. Some individual owners have publicly expre sed a desire for a hard spending limit. Manfred did not specifically mention a desire for a cap at the mid-June investor event (though he alluded to it in his reference to a 50-50 revenue split). Earlier in the month, he told reporters at the owners meetings that MLB had made no decisions on what theyd propose when CBA talks begin (additional link). Its easy to see how the commi sioners comments could lay the groundwork for a salary cap push. A cap system would almost certainly involve a corresponding salary floor. Thatd limit top-end contracts while arguably increasing spending on lower-tier players, closing the gap in salary discrepancy which Manfred referenced. The commi sioner also opined that MLB free agency progre ses too slowly. Other sports, they have free agency, its about a month. Theres lots of bidders. Its a great marketing opportunity for the sport, he argued. Players have their choice of where to go. All positive. Our free agency is like the Bataan Death March. It starts the day after the World Series and in February really, really good players are still wandering around the landscape. Theres certainly a case that thered be greater entertainment value and fan interest in an early-offseason free agent bonanza. Thered be little to nothing of note in the second half of the winter, but leagues like the NFL, NBA and NHL all have a frenetic few days at the beginning of their offseasons that make for an exhilarating time for fans. MLB only approximated that in the lead-up to the 2022 lockout. Its free agency is otherwise much more drawn out save for a few fairly hectic days at the early December Winter Meetings and arguably le s satisfying. That said, the appeal for MLB in a quick-moving free agency goes beyond fan engagement. Other leagues offseason activity is compre sed because they all operate with a cap/floor system. Teams have a much narrower budgetary range that theyre required to hit. Theres often a firm limit on a players contract length and salary. Theres limited opportunity for a bidding war for the top-tier free agents, so theyre le s incentivized to wait out the market than they are under the MLB system. Many of the entertainment benefits of a quicker offseason are the results of what would be a more favorable economic system for MLB. Its unsurprising that the league would therefore place an emphasis on them while the MLBPA diminishes their importance. Manfred has spoken repeatedly about his interest in imposing an offseason free agent signing deadline thatd hopefully lead to a flood of activity not di similar from the in-season trade deadline. The union has been adamantly opposed, arguing that players would lose negotiating leverage with a ticking clock and would be squeezed into accepting le ser deals. Both the SBJ and Athletic columns are worth a full read for those interested in CBA i sues. Jeferson Quero Jersey