Now comes the test: Will baseball players be happy with their new collective bargaining agreement in 2026?
They clearly were unhappy with the just-expired five-year contract, which saw payrolls drop to their lowest level since 2015.
The agreement reached Thursday raises the competitive-balance tax threshold by $34 million over five years, up from a $21 million hike over the 2017-21 deal and an $11 million rise from 2011-16.
鈥淚 think that the MLBPA historically has wanted a market-based system. Over multiple negotiations that has been a primary objectives objective of theirs,鈥� baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said after Thursday鈥檚 deal ended a 99-day lockout.
鈥淢arkets produce market results. And I think that the changes that were made in this agreement moved dramatically in their direction on topics like the CBT threshold, and I think you鈥檒l probably see a little different market results as a result of the changes.鈥�
Young star players were the biggest beneficiary of the deal.
Shohei Ohtani earned $545,000 in 2018, when he was voted AL Rookie of the Year. Had the new agreement been in place then, he would have earned an additional $750,000.
Cody Bellinger was at $605,000 in 2019, when he won NL MVP. Under the new deal, he would have gotten an extra $2.5 million.
The minimum salary goes up from $570,500 to $700,000, a 22.7% rise that is the largest in a single season since 2003.
The union also hopes the deal boosts the middle: The median salary was $1.15 million at the start of last season, according to calculations by The Associated Press, down 30% from the $1.65 million record high at the start of 2015.
鈥淭he deal pushes the game forward,鈥� Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, a member of the union鈥檚 executive subcommittee, said in an telephone interview with the AP. 鈥淚t addresses a lot of the things that the players in the game should be focused on: the competitive integrity aspect of it.鈥�
Veteran players in leadership hoped to get more. The union鈥檚 executive subcommittee voted 8-0 against the deal: Zack Britton, Jason Castro, Cole, Francisco Lindor, Andrew Miller, James Paxton, Max Scherzer and Marcus Semien. Five of the eight are represented by agent Scott Boras, and Castro, at $3.5 million, is the only one of the eight who earned under $12 million last year.
Team player representatives voted 26-4 in favor, leaving the overall player executive committee vote 26-12 to approve.
鈥淥ur union endured the second-longest work stoppage in its history to achieve significant progress in key areas that will improve not just current players鈥� rights and benefits, but those of generations to come,鈥� union head Tony Clark said in a statement.
Clark and Manfred notably did not have a joint news conference. Clark chose to wait until Friday for his.
鈥淚 spoke to Tony after their ratification vote. I told him that I thought we had a great opportunity for the game in front of us,鈥� Manfred said. 鈥淥ne of the things that I鈥檓 supposed to do is promote a good relationship with our players. I鈥檝e tried to do that. I think that I have not been successful in that. I think that it begins with small steps.鈥�
鈥擱onald Blum, The Associated Press
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