"Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association held their first official collective bargaining meeting of 2026 in New York City today, per reporting from Jeff Passan of ESPN and Evan Drellich of The Athletic. At this point, there's not much in terms of news. Both reporters note that today's meeting was mostly about the two sides presenting basic overviews of their positions. Formal proposals will come in future meetings."
"The current collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1st. It's not unusual to begin talks about this far out. As noted by Drellich, they are actually starting a little later than last time. In 2021, opening presentations were made in April. This round of negotiations is going to be closely monitored, both due to the way the last round went and because of how things have transpired since then."
"The previous CBA expired without a deal on December 1st of 2021 and the league immediately instituted a lockout, the first MLB work stoppage since the 1994-95 strike. The lockout included a transaction freeze and lasted until March 10th, going about as long as it could have gone while still playing a full 162-game season in 2022."
"Perhaps due to the pitch clock speeding up games or due to the rise of international stars like Shohei Ohtani, the sport's popularly is on the upswing. The league regularly issues press releases about increased ratings and attendance figures. A notable statistic was that Game Seven of the 2025 World Series was the most-watched MLB game since 1991. The final games of the 2026 World Baseball Classic had comparable ratings to the most recent NBA Finals."
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association held their first official collective bargaining meeting of 2026 in New York City. The meeting centered on each side presenting basic overviews of their positions, with formal proposals scheduled for later meetings. The current collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1st, and talks are beginning on a timeline similar to prior negotiations. The previous round ended without a deal by December 1st, 2021, leading to a lockout that included a transaction freeze and lasted until March 10th. Recent years show mixed economics: popular interest has risen, while some clubs claim they are not benefiting equally due to changes in cable television and regional sports network availability.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]