SCOTTSDALE, AZ. About a month after the Los Angeles Dodgers completed brilliant seven-game World Series triumph On the Toronto Blue Jays, the Major League Baseball Players Association met in Arizona this week to discuss the future of the game and anticipate a possible lockout next December.
Japanese stars led by Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto generated record international interest, game attendance increased in 2025 for the third consecutive season, and a series of rule changes beginning in 2023 created a more fast-paced game that received widespread acclaim.
But big spending by the $500 million Dodgers, led by high-priced stars Ohtani, Yamamoto, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, has highlighted wage disparities in baseball as the MLBPA prepares for a potentially contentious round of labor negotiations that will lead to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement on Dec. 1.
Union chief Tony Clark said formal talks were likely to begin in the spring, in line with previous talks.
“As an organization, you start preparing for the next round of negotiations as soon as the ink is dry on the previous one,” Clark said Thursday. “You constantly evaluate the system, you evaluate how teams and players react to the system.
“After a year, you really get into what it looks like.”
The eight-member executive subcommittee consists of 2025 Cy Young Award winners Paul Skeens and Tarik Skubal, as well as veterans Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Pete Fairbanks, Cedric Mullins, Marcus Semien and Brent Suter.
There are also 30 player representatives, one for each team.
“We have an outstanding group of leadership players,” Clark said. “We get better and stronger as an organization when players interact with each other and are aware of the issues. We have that. That's what we're grateful for, and historically that's always been the case in our organization.”
Clark said the MLBPA's focus remains on several major issues related to the negotiations. One is to find more ways to encourage all 30 teams to spend money in the free agent market to make the teams as competitive as possible.
While the Dodgers have spent an estimated $890 million over the last two years to produce back-to-back World Series champions, the Athletics have spent more than $150 million over the same period. MLB is the only major professional sports league in the United States that does not have a salary cap.
The Players' Association is preparing to resist renewed attempts to impose restrictions. Owners' demand for rate caps led to a seven-month strike in 1994–95 and the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years.
Thirty years later, the scars from that experience still remain. Clark made his MLB debut with the Detroit Tigers in 1995.
“Knowing that there are teams that have the opportunity to compete that choose not to and how that impacts the industry,” Clark said. “What does this mean in an industry where not all 30 teams are committed to this? Is there anything we can do to solve these problems? There is.”
Another major concern is that the MLBPA would like to see more payment options for young players that are more in line with their value on the field. Most players are eligible for salary arbitration after three years of MLB service and can become free agents after six years.
In the latest round of negotiations, the union made some progress on compensation for young players. The minimum wage jumped to $700,000 in 2022 and will be $780,000 next year. An annual pool of $50 million was created for players eligible for pre-arbitration proceedings.
Associated Press reporter Ronald Blum contributed.
