MLB players, owners have tentative labor deal

The new agreement calls for a five-year deal, according to multiple reports. While the Royals have been active in the global market in the past, they have never been lavish spenders, so this may actually be to their benefit if anything.

Failing to reach agreement on a new CBA could lead owners to declare a lockout that would put trades and signings on hold, scuttle next week’s Winter Meetings and interrupt player benefits.

The details (wherein, probably lies the devil) have yet to be announced, but Major League Baseball and its union will have labor peace, reportedly for five years. These rules take effect next offseason. In other words, the hot stove will stay hot.

Details are still being fine-tuned – it might be weeks before all the provisions are known – but here are some of the details that have been reported. However, if that team pays luxury tax, the extra draft pick would drop to after the fourth round.

Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, under parameters of the new CBA, the luxury-tax threshold will start at $195 million next season and gradually increase to between $210 million to $215 million before the deal ends in five years.

It’s going up. Most recently, payrolls of more than $189 million were hit by the “competitive balance tax”. Getting rid of the qualifying offer for instituting an worldwide draft would be a logical deal. These changes should incentive teams to more freely pursue qualifying free agents who, in the past, have sometimes gone unsigned until late in the offseason. The owners and players were reportedly at odds with several changes to the previous CBA that would have helped control player salaries and bonuses, including an global draft, draft-pick compensation, and changes to the current competitive-balance tax (commonly known as the “luxury tax”). The players would like teams that sign free agents to no longer be required to give up a draft pick as compensation. One person with knowledge of the talks said the league would be willing to address a revamped compensation system – perhaps one in which a team that has a free agent depart gains a pick, but the signing team doesn’t lose one. The luxury tax will rise as expected, but things such as an global draft or roster expansion will not. A stoppage of play for any period of time could permanently damage the league’s popularity moving forward. In an effort to keep late-season rules closer to the ones used for most of the season, the active limit would decrease from 40 to 28 or 29 from September 1 through the end of regular season. That means the seven QO free agents still on the market – Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen, Edwin Encarnacion, Dexter Fowler, Ian Desmond, Jose Bautista, Mark Trumbo – will still cost their new teams a high draft pick (assuming they don’t re-sign with their former teams). Players’ union boss Tony Clark had never before been the point man in such talks. Major League Baseball and its players’ union added the home field advantage stipulation to the All-Star Game in 2003, and it remained in place ever since. Instead, the pennant victor with the best record will get the extra home game in the Series.

Another important change: The minimum time for a stint on the disabled list will be reduced from 15 days to 10.

Major League Baseball talked long about getting an worldwide draft. Instead the bonus pools for signing worldwide free agents will reportedly be $4.75 million per team.

Cuban players, 23 or older with five years of playing professionally in Cuba, will not be subject to the global signing bonus pools. A number of players have spoken publicly about the need for longer suspensions for those who test positive for performance-enhancing drugs.