Power to the Players? Measuring the Impact of the MLB’s New CBA

In baseball, there are two rule sets: the rules that govern how the game is played, and the rules that govern how the sport is run. The second set of rules is principally outlined the MLB CBA, or “Collective Bargaining Agreement”. Last December, the MLB and representatives from the MLBPA came together and drafted the newest CBA. This can be a contentious process, as the MLB and MLBPA generally have opposing goals, and as a result, one can observe concessions from both sides of the aisle.

The newest CBA was ratified just in December, and it brings with it some drastic changes to baseball itself — along with plenty of new benefits for players.

The biggest change, one that dominated headlines when the CBA was first released, is that home field advantage during the World Series is no longer determined by the All-Star game — instead, the pennant winner with the better record holds the home-field advantage. This change is a welcome one for many fans — since the players for the ASG are decided via fan-voting, fans could possibly influence the outcome of the game, and ergo decide the home field advantage for the World Series. Remember back in 2015 when Omar Infante (slashing .206/.232/.276 at the break) almost got the nod over Jose Altuve ( .293/.335/.412)? It was a feel-good story when John Scott was selected to the NHL ASG because the NHL ASG doesn’t affect how the rest of the season plays out. But it wasn’t when Infante almost got the nod, because the MLB All-Star game actually counted for something — and running out one of the worst hitters in the MLB would have been a recipe for disaster for the AL.

So what incentive is there for players to play to win the ASG now? Money — $20,000 for each player on the winning team. This is a fairly paltry amount compared to the millions these superstars earn yearly, but the important thing is that they players are given a direct, tangible incentive to win, which is ultimately a win for the MLBPA. Finally, players are actually rewarded for playing to win in the All-Star Game!

One of the biggest changes is the reduction of disabled list time. In the past, teams would put players on the 15 day disabled list, and players would be unable to be activated until the 15 days were up. Under the new CBA, however, that time drops to only 10 days. While it may seem like a slight change, there will be a tangible impact on the MLB season — for instance, a pitcher sent to the 10 day DL will only have to miss a single start instead of two. Furthermore, teams will feel less pressure to keep injured players on the active roster.

For example, say a player sprained his ankle and was forced to sit for a week. Under the previous CBA, a team would have likely kept the injured player on their roster, losing a roster slot for the next week, because sending the player to the 15 day DL would have required an additional week of unnecessary rest. With a 10 day DL, teams are less penalized for sending players to the DL, freeing up more roster slots, and players spend less time on the DL and more time contributing. Overall, this is a win for both players and teams.

There are other obvious benefits to players as well: minimum salaries for MLB and MiLB players are on the rise, players get additional travel time, extra compensation for participating in international games, and four more off days for players. Qualifying offers no longer tag players with compensatory picks for teams under the luxury tax threshold. So looking on the surface, it looks like the MLBPA scored a huge win here with regards to players and players rights.

But there are a few pieces in the CBA that may come back to bite the MLBPA, especially in terms of salary and earnings. The MLBPA may have raised the floor, but the CBA lowers the ceiling.

There still exists no salary cap in the MLB, which is a huge victory for the MLBPA. But slowly, the MLB is inching towards an implicit cap, via increases in the luxury tax threshold. The luxury tax threshold refers to the level of salary spending teams can make before the MLB starts taxing their overages. This keeps player salaries from spiraling out of control, and keeps teams from spending millions upon millions to build mega-teams of the best talent. Theoretically, this hurts’ players earnings as teams are influenced to stay below the threshold, and thus are less willing to dole out big contracts.

In practice, however, this hasn’t stopped teams like Yankees and Dodgers, whose budgets are big enough that they can afford the luxury tax and build extremely competitive teams. That may change, as the new CBA will levy heavy penalties upon teams who blow past the threshold. Less money to go around for players means that sky-high contracts might be few and far-between.

But there’s an even worse angle to the CBA, one that hurts international prospects directly. Previously, teams could offer huge signing bonuses to international prospects. Keep in mind, for poor kids coming out of the Dominican Republic with nothing but a ball, a bat, and a dream, these bonuses are essentially life-changing.

The new CBA introduces international signing rules where teams’ international spending is significantly regulated. Teams cannot spend any more than allotted, generally 4.75–5.75 million in a given year. While there are only a few teams that exceed the new limits with their current spending, this change significantly hurts international players — either the size of signing bonuses decreases significantly for them, or there’s simply less signing to go around. As Grant Brisbee also points out, small-market teams are also hurt by the agreement — now that spending has been capped at a prohibitive level, small market teams will have difficulty using money to counteract the name-value that big market teams can provide.

Ultimately, the MLBPA scored some real, tangible victories for the players with the CBA, and kept up one of the longest labor peaces in sports. But there is genuine concern that the MLBPA may have traded away some key intangibles in exchange for these victories for players. The sky may be the limit for the MLB’s best and brightest, but suddenly, the sky looks a lot lower than it did last year.