Players, owners avoid lockout at a cost

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On Wednesday night, right before the expiration of the old Collective Bargaining Agreement and amidst reports of possible lockouts, the players and owners agreed on a new deal. As is to be expected, both sides were praised for keeping labor peace, something they’ve been able to do more successfully than any other American sports league. Labor peace isn’t necessarily a good thing, though. The ability to strike or lockout is a way to get what you want out of negotiations, and this time around both sides decided it wasn’t worth it. In the immediate aftermath of the deal, that doesn’t look like a great choice for the players.

The biggest issue on the pro-players side of things shockingly (not really) affects amateur players. It’s only natural that the MLBPA will leverage its non-members to get something for their current members. You will hear about how great it is that they were able to avoid an international draft — and that’s true — but they may have gotten something almost as bad. Starting in the next July 2 period, teams will only be able to spend a maximum of $5 million on international amateurs. For context, that’s just about 16 percent of Yoan Moncada’s signing bonus from a couple periods ago, not including the tax portion. If all 30 teams spend to the cap (which, let’s be honest, is unlikely), it’d be only half of the total that was spent in the 2015 signing period. The one positive from this change is that players will still be free to negotiate with any team they’d like, just with a significant cap on their earnings.

In exchange for screwing their future members from mostly poor countries around the Caribbean, it doesn’t seem like the players got much in return. They got some extra days off, with the schedule being shifted around. The also got a new qualifying offer system, which stops teams from having to give up a first-round pick but could still end up hurting the players. In the new system, the penalty is based on the signing team’s payroll, with the big-spending teams having to give up second- and fifth-round picks along with $1 million in international spending money. Teams below the luxury tax will give up a third-round pick. It’s likely a net positive for the players, but it’s just another incentive for teams to stay below the luxury tax, which is rising at a much slower rate with a much stiffer penalty.