MLB owners officially propose hard salary cap for baseball

MLB owners proposed a hard salary cap of $245.3 million (including benefits) to the MLB Players' Association in New York on Thursday, May 28, 2026 — the first such proposal since 1994, when a similar dispute led to a players' strike that cancelled the World Series. The proposed cap is lower than eight current MLB clubs' payrolls, which would require a combined $578 million reduction across those teams. MLB also proposed a $171.2 million salary floor, which would force 12 teams to increase their payrolls by a combined $617 million.