Aboard Air Force One while fielding questions from political reporters on Friday, President Donald Trump was asked about Major League Baseball and the possibility of implementing a salary cap this coming offseason (via USA Today). The president was clear in his support for a cap.
“If you don’t have a salary cap, you don’t have a sport, because they can’t help themselves,” Trump said. “Football has a salary cap. They should have done it a long time ago.
“It’s shocking, frankly, that they didn’t put a cap on many years ago,” he said, possibly referencing the 1994-95 strike. “They had a chance to do a cap, but they blew it.”
The current MLB collective bargaining agreement expires this coming offseason and talks between the players and owners are expected to be pretty contentious. One of the hot-button issues is, obviously, the looming threat of a salary cap — specifically, the owners’ collective desire to implement one versus the players’ staunch opposition.
MLB officially proposes salary cap and floor in latest CBA negotiations with players union
Dayn Perry
Both sides in the impending fight have already started to lay out their talking points. MLB has proposed a salary cap of $245.3 million along with a floor of $171.2 million. There are currently nine teams over that cap and 12 teams under the floor, with the Marlins and Guardians nearly $100 million away from it. The Dodgers are almost $170 million over the proposed cap, while the Mets and Yankees are more than $100 million north of it.
On the other side, the MLBPA has also made a proposal that does not include a salary cap and the union continues to view a hard cap as a nonstarter.
“Our goal is to preserve and improve baseball’s market system, rewarding competition on and off the field. Additionally, the players’ proposals provide increased revenue sharing initially guaranteeing every small market club a minimum of $240m in revenue every season,” said MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer. “This enhanced revenue sharing includes added protections to ensure clubs prioritize winning over profiteering. Ultimately, our proposals are designed to build upon the incredible momentum and popularity of our sport world-wide.”
MLB has been setting revenue records on an annual basis for quite a while. In 2025, Forbes estimated that MLB generated approximately $12.5 billion. In light of this, surely both sides would love to avoid a work stoppage. Expect the salary cap discussion to remain front and center until a new deal is signed.
