MLB proposes 5-year max on switching free-agent deals
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- MLB proposed a max 5-year contract for free agents switching teams and a new 6-year "Cornerstone Player Provision" for teams re-signing their own players, with the changes taking effect after the 2027 season.
- MLB offered to raise the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1 million in 2027 for players with at least two years of service — a jump the league calls the largest year-over-year increase in MLB history.
- The league also accepted the union's proposal to make players eligible for free agency after 5 years of service if they reach it by age 30, while proposing to eliminate the qualifying offer and deferred contracts.
- The package sits inside a hard cap framework — a $171.2 million floor and $245.3 million ceiling per team in 2027 — with switching-team free agents limited to 15% of payroll and 5% annual raises.
- MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer dismissed the offer as "zero-sum" under a cap and said the league did players a "favor" by proposing terms so unfavorable they have unified the union.
- A switching-team free agent this offseason could sign for up to five years and $202 million, while a team keeping its own free agent could offer six years and $265 million.
Why it matters: The two sides are negotiating under fundamentally different economic visions — MLB's hard cap with a $171.2M floor and $245.3M ceiling versus the MLBPA's continued luxury-tax threshold — and with union membership unusually unified at this stage, a work stoppage after the current CBA expires appears more likely than a deal.
