NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball proposed limiting free-agent signings to several weeks in December and then from early February on each offseason along with a trade ban during the gap in-between, a plan aimed at creating more of an offseason transaction flurry similar to those in the NFL and NBA.
“A cap-and-floor system would unlock additional opportunities to improve the game for players and fans, creating more stability in rosters, getting the best players to the major leagues more quickly, and accelerating the pace of the offseason,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. “In our current economic system, these changes would be too harmful to competitive balance and would not be practical.”
MLB would drop the period by one year for having to protect a player from the Rule 5 draft, to the fourth draft for players who signed their initial contract under age 20 and to three for those 20 and over at the time of their first deal. Management would allow players selected in the draft to be optioned. Under the current rule, a selected player must be offered back to his former team before he can be assigned to the minors.
“Their latest proposals regarding free agency would eliminate player rights by establishing an artificial free agency window, subject to a salary cap, which would reduce player leverage and create a game of musical chairs pitting player vs. player,” he said in a statement. MLB said the additional time would be needed for revenue and salary cap figures to be finalized ahead of the business season. “MLB expressly conditioned these proposals on the players’ agreement to a salary cap system, which would drastically reduce overall player compensation, eliminate fully guaranteed contracts through escrow, and turn back the clock on fundamental player rights,” Meyer said of Thursday’s plan. “The league is not interested in any changes that don’t directly reduce the rights of all players and shift leverage to the owners,” Meyer said.
“The suggestion that the only way to limit roster churn, or incentivize earlier free agent signings is with a salary cap is entirely unserious.
