The hardest part of collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations between MLB and the Players Association is, without a doubt, the competitive balance tax, or CBT.
It’s an important issue because players feel that the CBT is used by teams as a hard cap, because only three or four have shown a willingness to exceed the threshold.
As a reminder, MLB clubs can go past the CBT, but there are penalties involved, and since they would have to pay a lot of money, most teams are not interested in going higher than they should.
Players, naturally, want the CBT to be higher.
Right now, and considering the owners offered the CBT to be $228 million in 2022, there isn’t too much difference to what the players want in year one ($238 million).
The Gap Is Larger Than It Seems
However, the important thing to remember is that there are five years in the CBA, so it’s not just the 2022 amount.
“The owners’ latest CBT base threshold proposal for 2022 ($228m) is pretty close to the midpoint ($229m) from a few weeks back. But their proposed 2026 level ($238m) is less than 1% growth over the CBA. If MLBPA doesn’t get better growth, it’s locking in a more restrictive system,” The Score’s Travis Sawchik tweeted.
The owners' latest CBT base threshold proposal for 2022 ($228m) is pretty close to the midpoint ($229m) from a few weeks back. But their proposed 2026 level ($238m) is less than 1% growth over the CBA. If MLBPA doesn't get better growth, it's locking in a more restrictive system
— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) March 8, 2022
The players want the CBT to be set at $263 million in 2026, the last year of the currently discussed CBA.
Owners, however, want it to be just $238 million in 2026, so there is a sizable difference, $25 million to be exact.
It’s something that both sides should eventually iron out, but it doesn’t look all that likely that it will be today.
The CBT is the hardest topic in negotiations for a reason.
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