MLB makes big push for salary cap, floor with public statement outlining labor negotiations with MLBPA

It should come as no surprise to fans that a salary cap is the biggest issue facing the league and its players in labor negotiations ahead of the current collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) expiring in December. Given the league's actions in previous negotiations, gaining cost certainty on team expenses and player contracts is a major focus for the owners.

Until Thursday, however, those goals had not been explicitly expressed by the league — at least, not during this cycle of labor talks.

That changed Thursday, when MLB put out a league-approved campaign making a hard push for a salary cap and salary floor. The campaign, which is titled "Leveling the Playing Field," makes the argument that the spending gap between teams has reached a breaking point and that a salary cap and salary floor are necessary to fix the game.

In an effort to spread the word about the campaign, MLB launched a website dedicated to the cause, which features five tabs explaining why the league believes the sport needs a salary cap.

On the homepage, MLB argues that too many fans feel hopeless about their team's chances at the start of a season due to the massive payroll gap.

"Ultimately the game is about hope and competition. Too many fans in markets across the game have too little hope that their team has a fair chance to win."

MLB also argues in its statement that "fans overwhelmingly support a salary cap and floor.”

The website contains a tab for a "How it works" section, which outlines the league's specific proposals on the salary cap, floor, revenue split and centralized media-revenue system it claims would eliminate blackouts.

There are also tabs for an FAQ, a video page with two videos — one in which fans complain about the Dodgers and the payroll disparity in the sport and another in which the league further outlines its campaign — and a news page that links to a few articles about the league's previous CBA proposals.

Both the fan video and the graphic showing a $466 million payroll disparity between the Miami Marlins and the Dodgers paint the Dodgers as one of the game's biggest problems, an unorthodox stance for the league to take.

Additionally, the league posted two tweets on the matter. The first focused on the league's desire to implement a salary cap and salary floor.

That tweet also mentioned that the league "accepted" two proposals from the MLBPA, one that would give players earlier access to free agency and another that would eliminate the qualifying offer.

The term "accepted" is a bit misleading, as negotiations are still very much in the preliminary stages. That statement likely serves more as the league saying, "We'll agree to those stipulations if you agree to what we're proposing."

MLB's latest CBA proposal explained

So what is MLB proposing? The league would like a salary cap of $245.3 million and a salary floor of $171.2 million. Both figures have been previously reported. If those figures were accepted by the MLBPA, eight teams would need to reduce payroll next season to get under the cap, including the Dodgers, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Twelve teams would need to increase spending to meet the salary floor, including the Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays.

The league also wants to eliminate deferred compensation in contracts. This is likely due to the Dodgers' strategy of deferring costs until later in order to employ more premier talent now. A whopping $680 million of the team's 10-year, $700 million contract with two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is deferred, allowing the Dodgers to continue to add major free-agent talent to team up with Ohtani. His contract — and other deferred deals — is a big reason the team has been able to win two straight World Series titles.

The league also wants to set up a "Cornerstone Player" provision, which would reportedly cap free-agent offers at five years if a player decides to switch teams in free agency. Players who opt to remain with their teams would be eligible for six-year contracts, per ESPN's Jesse Rogers. MLB did not confirm the five- and six-year restrictions on its website or in its tweets.

Of the two policies MLB claimed it "accepted," one comes with some important stipulations. The league allowing players to reach free agency sooner than usual applies to players 30 years old. Those players would hit free agency after five years instead of six. However, it's unclear exactly when the clock starts on those players. Additionally, players 30 and over aren't the ones who typically set the free-agent market, so it's unclear how much that change would benefit players.