CBA Negotiations

[torts]

Mlb feels like they're living in another planet.  

Nothing about the NBA "requiring" 1 year of NCAA has helped either the NBA or NCAA.  Going to a year or two of college is not going to help anything, just deferring mlb giving kids money to colleges giving kids money.  

[Samurai Bucky]

2 hours ago, torts said:

Mlb feels like they're living in another planet.  

Nothing about the NBA "requiring" 1 year of NCAA has helped either the NBA or NCAA.  Going to a year or two of college is not going to help anything, just deferring mlb giving kids money to colleges giving kids money.  

Any comparison between the NBA and MLB as far as not even comparing apples and oranges.  A typical NBA franchise will pay around 15 players on the main roster.  G-League players are paid as part of a Developmental league, but not by the Bucks for example.  There are 2 two-way contracts that the Bucks pay for.

The Brewers have 8 affiliates, or minor-league teams.  So, the total number of players throughout the Brewers organization is ~190.

Using Copilot as my guide...

A typical minor‑league roster size:

• AAA: 28–30 players
• AA: 28–30 players
• A+ : 30 players
• A: 30 players
• Rookie/DSL/ACL teams: 35–40 players each

Estimated total minor‑league players paid by Brewers:

• AAA: ~30
• AA: ~30
• A+: ~30
• A: ~30
• DSL1: ~35
• DSL2: ~35
• ACL Gold: ~35
• ACL Blue: ~35

From a business standpoint, it seems to make sense to try and cut down on the minor-league structure.  Especially if the NCAA is willing to absorb the costs through *cough* NIL *cough*.

To reiterate, we won't see any baseball team at the University of Wisconsin.  Sad, sad, sad.

[Jopal78]

4 hours ago, torts said:

Mlb feels like they're living in another planet.  

Nothing about the NBA "requiring" 1 year of NCAA has helped either the NBA or NCAA.  Going to a year or two of college is not going to help anything, just deferring mlb giving kids money to colleges giving kids money.  

It’s control. Currently, if a high school player gets drafted but doesn’t like the slot money or the organization; he can tell the team he’s going to honor his college commitment and re-enter the draft the next year. 
 

The new CBA would eliminate that loophole by making college a prerequisite to being drafted
 

 

[torts]

2 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

It’s control. Currently, if a high school player gets drafted but doesn’t like the slot money or the organization; he can tell the team he’s going to honor his college commitment and re-enter the draft the next year. 
 

The new CBA would eliminate that loophole by making college a prerequisite to being drafted
 

 

And that's the players right to turn down the offer, just like a college kid could do after 3 years.  They're shortening down to two years, they're forcing kids into a single path when that's not what all kids need (or want).  

Kids taking on debt to maybe lose the shot they had out of high school is a gamble.  College isn't for everyone and if someone is good enough why force kids to go *just* to see if they can avoid injury in college

[cragi]

yeah ive gotten the same feeling that this would be terrible. brewers bet big on international development despite the small market capabilities and now that its clear we can finally compete, we get it stripped away. 

Meanwhile the Dodgers and Yankees who have have been dominating the international game still get to play the same high stakes game, while taking away our sudden ability to compete. BS

11 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

 

The Japanese baseball pipeline is much more controlled than MLBs. Players in Japan, who turn pro are then controlled by their team for up to nine years. The posting fee is to get the team who controls a player’s rights to relinquish them early. MLB doesn’t have the ability to alter that. 
 

In addition to unforeseen loopholes with procurement of 16-17 year old Latin players, the current  International system rewards information and relationships over payroll. An international draft would move things away from the teams that scout the players best and rewards those who are simply lucky enough to have a top pick. 
 

After finding 2 consensus #1 prospects in Latin America (Chourio/Made) in less than 5 years, any Brewer fan should be dead set against an international draft. 

 

[rickh150]

Make it against CBA to negotiate/pay fee for Japanese league players. Let them sit in Japan and play there. It’s time for them to come here by way of draft  and MLB Dollars to stay with drafted players…not 16 year olds in the Dominican republic or Japanese league teams.

[Jopal78]

10 hours ago, torts said:

And that's the players right to turn down the offer, just like a college kid could do after 3 years.  They're shortening down to two years, they're forcing kids into a single path when that's not what all kids need (or want).  

Kids taking on debt to maybe lose the shot they had out of high school is a gamble.  College isn't for everyone and if someone is good enough why force kids to go *just* to see if they can avoid injury in college

I assume any high school player skilled enough to be drafted by MLB, would also have a free ride to College for baseball so the debt thing really isn’t an issue.

But you hit on the point: the owners want cost certainty they do not want to have to negotiate significantly over slot for high school players, and have the high school player hold out until the 11th hour. 

Frankly the MLB Players Association does not  represent high school kids or college  players, so draft eligibility is probably at the bottom of their list of priorities.   

Neither side cares what’s best for “the kid” it’s a fight over money. 

[Turning2]

On 6/19/2026 at 1:46 PM, DonBarclay said:

It will be interesting to see how things shuffle when that happens. Brewers own the Warbirds, so you’d think they move them up to A+ and potentially Wisconsin to AAA, with Nashville going away as an MLB city. 

That would be awesome. Every team should have their AAA team in state as much as possible. Super jealous of the Twins having the St. Paul Saints just a 15 minute trip across the metro. When I watch the Sounds, it seems they rarely have much of a crowd. Which is understandable - how many baseball fans gets invested in the AAA team of another MLB franchise. I realize not all states with AAA clubs have a MLB team, but still. If the Brewers had been sold and relocated, I doubt I'm going to get invested if some other franchise had their AAA team in cheeseland. 

[Turning2]

On 6/19/2026 at 9:16 AM, DonBarclay said:

 

3.Draft becomes hard slotted - no more drafting lesser players high to save slot money for high level, low propensity to sign players later. 
 

 

Can somebody explain how this works please. I don't understand how you can save money by working this system correctly, how you end up with better talent in late rounds, how that talent falls that far in the draft etc. 

[Jopal78]

38 minutes ago, Turning2 said:

Can somebody explain how this works please. I don't understand how you can save money by working this system correctly, how you end up with better talent in late rounds, how that talent falls that far in the draft etc. 

Every team goes into the draft with a fixed total amount of money to spend as bonuses on draftees.
 

So for example, you draft a college player in the first round where the slotted bonus for the pick is $3M knowing going into the draft said player will sign for say $2M which saves  $1M of your total draft pool for later use. 
 

Then,  you draft Cooper Pratt out of high school with a pick that has a slot value of $500k. You also know going in he has a college commitment and is somewhat serious about it, so you offer Pratt $1.5M instead of the slot $500K to dissuade him from honoring his college commitment and turning pro. 
 

There are exceptions and nuance but that’s the general concept, 

[torts]

2 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

I assume any high school player skilled enough to be drafted by MLB, would also have a free ride to College for baseball so the debt thing really isn’t an issue.

But you hit on the point: the owners want cost certainty they do not want to have to negotiate significantly over slot for high school players, and have the high school player hold out until the 11th hour. 

Frankly the MLB Players Association does not  represent high school kids or college  players, so draft eligibility is probably at the bottom of their list of priorities.   

Neither side cares what’s best for “the kid” it’s a fight over money. 

Colleges only get a finite set of aid/scholarships across all sports.  A friend of mine is an AD for a D1 school, over baseball, and they don't give full rides for baseball, the most they provide are partial scholarships.  DII and DIII schools are even more challenged and there's real concern around competitive Imbalance within NCAA as a whole

[Turning2]

26 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Every team goes into the draft with a fixed total amount of money to spend as bonuses on draftees.
 

So for example, you draft a college player in the first round where the slotted bonus for the pick is $3M knowing going into the draft said player will sign for say $2M which saves  $1M of your total draft pool for later use. 
 

Then,  you draft Cooper Pratt out of high school with a pick that has a slot value of $500k. You also know going in he has a college commitment and is somewhat serious about it, so you offer Pratt $1.5M instead of the slot $500K to dissuade him from honoring his college commitment and turning pro. 
 

There are exceptions and nuance but that’s the general concept, 

Thanks. It's a confusing system for me.

So, if every draft position is assessed a $ value, why would a lesser player accept $2M rather than the $3M at that pick? How do teams know that player will sign for less?

I know I'm viewing it from the lens of the NFL draft and they are not apples to apples. I just don't see why you wouldn't take the best talent at the top with the accepted value for that slot. If I was Pratt in that scenario, I would be thinking "why didn't you take me with the $3M slot money if you wanted to persuade me away from my college commitment. I still have that option, and $3 million is much more persuadable than $1.5M". 

 

[Underachiever]

2 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

I assume any high school player skilled enough to be drafted by MLB, would also have a free ride to College for baseball so the debt thing really isn’t an issue.

Not a ton of college baseball players get full scholarships. It has changed some in the past few years, but it is not uncommon for college players to get partial rides and supplement it with financial aid of some sort. I am curious how NCAA baseball coaches feel about this. Were they surprised when the "no drafting high-school kids" made the news?

I don't know what the NIL game is for college baseball, but cannot imagine that it is as lucrative as basketball or football. This is from an article I found online on baseball NIL. I have no idea how good the information is.

Why the Top Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
Here’s the part the rankings miss. That Top 13 represents 13 players. College baseball rosters average roughly 42 players each — and programs split just 11.7 scholarships among all of them. Men’s basketball, by comparison, has 13 scholarships for rosters of about 16.

Partial scholarships are the baseball norm. For most players, NIL income isn’t a windfall on top of a free ride — it’s how they close the gap on tuition, housing, and the cost of staying in school. As Royals pitcher Chris Stratton put it, NIL can genuinely help “the kids whose parents don’t have a lot.”

And the real market reflects that. The headline valuations belong to a tiny group of draft-eligible stars. Below them are thousands of D1, D2 and D3 baseball players whose NIL reality looks nothing like the SportsGrid list. For them, a deal is more likely to be a few hundred dollars from a local business or a hometown fan than a national apparel partnership.
Source: https://blog.rallyfuel.com/highest-paid-college-baseball-nil-deals-2026

 

My final point is that I think a lot of what we are seeing from owners is them getting ahead of the public relations battle before the real negotiations. Some of these changes being floated are probably not realistic, but can be used as a chip later to come off of it. 

[ClosetBrewerFan]

A lot of current college players wont be getting a chance if this happens.  All those drafted high schoolers will instead have to go to college.  This will vastly improve the talent in college.  Though I wonder if players like Tyson Hardin even get a chance considering his poor numbers in college.

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, Underachiever said:

Not a ton of college baseball players get full scholarships. It has changed some in the past few years, but it is not uncommon for college players to get partial rides and supplement it with financial aid of some sort. I am curious how NCAA baseball coaches feel about this. Were they surprised when the "no drafting high-school kids" made the news?

I don't know what the NIL game is for college baseball, but cannot imagine that it is as lucrative as basketball or football. This is from an article I found online on baseball NIL. I have no idea how good the information is.

Why the Top Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
Here’s the part the rankings miss. That Top 13 represents 13 players. College baseball rosters average roughly 42 players each — and programs split just 11.7 scholarships among all of them. Men’s basketball, by comparison, has 13 scholarships for rosters of about 16.

Partial scholarships are the baseball norm. For most players, NIL income isn’t a windfall on top of a free ride — it’s how they close the gap on tuition, housing, and the cost of staying in school. As Royals pitcher Chris Stratton put it, NIL can genuinely help “the kids whose parents don’t have a lot.”

And the real market reflects that. The headline valuations belong to a tiny group of draft-eligible stars. Below them are thousands of D1, D2 and D3 baseball players whose NIL reality looks nothing like the SportsGrid list. For them, a deal is more likely to be a few hundred dollars from a local business or a hometown fan than a national apparel partnership.
Source: https://blog.rallyfuel.com/highest-paid-college-baseball-nil-deals-2026

 

My final point is that I think a lot of what we are seeing from owners is them getting ahead of the public relations battle before the real negotiations. Some of these changes being floated are probably not realistic, but can be used as a chip later to come off of it. 

Right, but tying draft eligibility to college, gives the teams more leverage over amateur players and more cost controls which is the whole point.
(The owners are probably going to have to concede on service time before free agency, so they’re trying to balance that by tamping down amateur talent acquisition costs which does not directly affect current MLBPA members)  

Since it is a low priority fight for the union it is probably one area where they quickly find an agreement. 

[Jopal78]

10 minutes ago, ClosetBrewerFan said:

A lot of current college players wont be getting a chance if this happens.  All those drafted high schoolers will instead have to go to college.  This will vastly improve the talent in college.  Though I wonder if players like Tyson Hardin even get a chance considering his poor numbers in college.

The second part is the overall talent level flowing into professional baseball will improve as college teams are filled with better players.

There probably will be an increased talent in the independent leagues too which would warrant more MLB scouting in those circuits.

no matter how they alter the system if someone’s a tremendous amateur baseball player they’ll have a shot to play pro ball. 

[Fear The Chorizo]

5 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Right, but tying draft eligibility to college, gives the teams more leverage over amateur players and more cost controls which is the whole point. (The owners are probably going to have to concede on service time before free agency, so they’re trying to balance that by tamping down amateur talent acquisition costs whicj does t directly affect current MLBPA members)  Since it is a low priority fight for the union it is probably one area where they quickly find an agreement. 

generally agreed - owners likely realize they're going to have to reduce service time control (both prior to free agency and minor league control before either requiring players be added to the 40 man or entering minor league free agency.  Pushing the year an initial bonus baby gets drafted 1-2 seasons later when they're closer to 20 instead of 18 takes some of that evaluation risk out, but it also gets those players closer to MLB-ready in development instead of burning their 1st two minor league seasons nursing them through rookie and low A affiliates when the priority is to avoid injury if at all possible (especially for high end high school pitching prospects).  I can see them using it as a bargaining chip to concede assuming the players union concedes on other items the owners want.

 

[Thurston Fluff]

Just to clarify, MLB isn't requiring two year of college. Players can shoose to go to an independant leauge. I'd think some of them would be more than willing to work with MLB to become more of a true developmental league. Unlike football, the infrastructure is already there. Scouts already go there. Teams already sign players from them. They also have the advantage of using wooden bats, and generally follow the same rules. There is nothing forcing players to go to college. If I was a baseball player who was only going to college for a couple years until I got drafted I'd probably want to go to a place that was 24/7 baseball using all the equipment and rules of the league I wanted to get drafted into.

 

As far as the players coming over from Japanese and Korean leagues via posting goes. I don't think the international draft was meant to include professional players from other leagues as much as amateurs in other countries. I think the draft is more about players who aren't under contract to another pro league. 

 

[Trail]

On 6/23/2026 at 11:03 AM, Thurston Fluff said:

Just to clarify, MLB isn't requiring two year of college. Players can shoose to go to an independant leauge. I'd think some of them would be more than willing to work with MLB to become more of a true developmental league. Unlike football, the infrastructure is already there. Scouts already go there. Teams already sign players from them. They also have the advantage of using wooden bats, and generally follow the same rules. There is nothing forcing players to go to college. If I was a baseball player who was only going to college for a couple years until I got drafted I'd probably want to go to a place that was 24/7 baseball using all the equipment and rules of the league I wanted to get drafted into.

 

As far as the players coming over from Japanese and Korean leagues via posting goes. I don't think the international draft was meant to include professional players from other leagues as much as amateurs in other countries. I think the draft is more about players who aren't under contract to another pro league. 

 

I wonder if we won't see some high school players electing to play in Japan or Korea for a couple of years?  I'm assuming they have some sort of developmental or minor league system.  Of course I'm sure the teams over there don't want to devote resources to players only to see them move back to the US after 2 or 3 years.  And...a lot would depend on the kid and maturity level.  

[Thurston Fluff]

10 minutes ago, Trail said:

I wonder if we won't see some high school players electing to play in Japan or Korea for a couple of years?  I'm assuming they have some sort of developmental or minor league system.  Of course I'm sure the teams over there don't want to devote resources to players only to see them move back to the US after 2 or 3 years.  And...a lot would depend on the kid and maturity level.  

Maybe but probably not. I assume if they signed with one of those leagues they'd be subject to the same posting agreement as all the other players in the league are. Setting that aside, if they're goal is to get drafted ASAP spending time in the minors there wouldn't give them any more exposure to scouting than going to an independent league here.