A Cap/Floor Proposal The Union Would Go For

[Red7]

First, eliminate the CBT. Cap ceiling $400 million. Cap floor $200 million. Teams can sell whatever cap space they have to teams wanting to exceed the cap. Example: Reds have met the $200 million floor. They can sell the remaining $200 million. There would be no limit to the amount a team could purchase or how many teams they can buy cap space from. That should make everyone happy.

[Jatalk]

First, eliminate the CBT. Cap ceiling $400 million. Cap floor $200 million. Teams can sell whatever cap space they have to teams wanting to exceed the cap. Example: Reds have met the $200 million floor. They can sell the remaining $200 million. There would be no limit to the amount a team could purchase or how many teams they can buy cap space from. That should make everyone happy.

Actually an interesting idea. Not sure what your cap and floor amounts should be. And there would be some competitive factors like do you sell cap space to a division rival. Something to think about and build on.

[WeeVikes]

First, eliminate the CBT. Cap ceiling $400 million. Cap floor $200 million. Teams can sell whatever cap space they have to teams wanting to exceed the cap. Example: Reds have met the $200 million floor. They can sell the remaining $200 million. There would be no limit to the amount a team could purchase or how many teams they can buy cap space from. That should make everyone happy.

That’s fascinating and very creative!

[Strummer Jones]

But does that cap space roll over? Could you, in theory, have 400 million cap space forever? Or does it ever reset?

[Talkin' Baseball]

An interesting concept.

[mattmitchl44]

Cap ceiling $400 million. Cap floor $200 million.

That is categorically insane, full stop.

Per Cot's, the total amount paid in player salaries in 2024 was $5.16 billion. In 2025, it was $5.28 billion, an increase of 2.3%.

Even if all 30 teams spent at the FLOOR, that would be $6.0 billion, an increase of 13.6% over 2025!

The cap has to be in the range of $250-$275 million, and the floor in the range of $125-$137.5 million (50% of cap).

Based on 2025 spending, as calculated before, if you have a cap of $250 million and all teams above the cap come down to exactly $250 million, a floor of $125 million and all teams below the floor come up to exactly $125 million, and all teams between the cap and floor remain the same - that works out to $5.29 billion.

[Talkin' Baseball]

Cap ceiling $400 million. Cap floor $200 million.

That is categorically insane, full stop.

Per Cot's, the total amount paid in player salaries in 2024 was $5.16 billion. In 2025, it was $5.28 billion, an increase of 2.3%.

Even if all 30 teams spent at the FLOOR, that would be $6.0 billion, an increase of 13.6% over 2025!

The cap has to be in the range of $250-$275 million, and the floor in the range of $125-$137.5 million (50% of cap).

You're right- the numbers probably need adjusted, but if they were adjusted to more appropriate levels, what do you think of the general concept?

[rockondlouie]

That's crazy but I love the out of the box thinking RedBaron!

Can you imagine how quickly the Dodgers would buy up all of the Rockies cap space they could, the Mets the same w/the Marlins?

The fascinating thing would be if BDWJr would be a buyer or a seller?

[mattmitchl44]

Cap ceiling $400 million. Cap floor $200 million.

That is categorically insane, full stop.

Per Cot's, the total amount paid in player salaries in 2024 was $5.16 billion. In 2025, it was $5.28 billion, an increase of 2.3%.

Even if all 30 teams spent at the FLOOR, that would be $6.0 billion, an increase of 13.6% over 2025!

The cap has to be in the range of $250-$275 million, and the floor in the range of $125-$137.5 million (50% of cap).

You're right- the numbers probably need adjusted, but if they were adjusted to more appropriate levels, what do you think of the general concept?

I think it is unnecessary.

You could just give every team a required budget of ~$180 million ($5.4 billion total). Then every team has to either:

(1) Spend up to that value or
(2) Sell part of that value to another team.

The Marlins could sell $80 million in space to the Dodgers for $X million, use the $X million to pay XX% of the $100 million they would then have to spend on player salaries. But the Dodgers would have to pay twice - $X million to the Marlins for the space and then $80 million to the players they buy with the added space.

But, in the end, to make sure the players get their $5.4 billion, every team has to spend its budget or turn over $X million that they didn't spend in team salary to the MLBPA to be distributed to the players.

It would make mid-season maneuvering complicated, however.

[Red7]

That's crazy but I love the out of the box thinking RedBaron!

Can you imagine how quickly the Dodgers would buy up all of the Rockies cap space they could, the Mets the same w/the Marlins?

The fascinating thing would be if BDWJr would be a buyer or a seller?

Exactly. We would see exactly how much competitive balance actually means to the owners. The ability to sell cap space would allow teams to achieve the floor and still make a huge profit. It would allow the big spenders to continue to spend and the players to make their money. In essence, it’s still the CBT/revenue sharing, but the money goes directly to the smaller market teams. Baseball doesn’t have a spending problem. It has a revenue distribution problem. This solves that problem.

[dugoutrex]

That's crazy but I love the out of the box thinking RedBaron!

Can you imagine how quickly the Dodgers would buy up all of the Rockies cap space they could, the Mets the same w/the Marlins?

The fascinating thing would be if BDWJr would be a buyer or a seller?

you have to ask?

[Bubble4427]

That's crazy but I love the out of the box thinking RedBaron!

Can you imagine how quickly the Dodgers would buy up all of the Rockies cap space they could, the Mets the same w/the Marlins?

The fascinating thing would be if BDWJr would be a buyer or a seller?

Exactly. We would see exactly how much competitive balance actually means to the owners. The ability to sell cap space would allow teams to achieve the floor and still make a huge profit. It would allow the big spenders to continue to spend and the players to make their money. In essence, it’s still the CBT/revenue sharing, but the money goes directly to the smaller market teams. Baseball doesn’t have a spending problem. It has a revenue distribution problem. This solves that problem.

This won't work.
To cut it down to the very basics....the small market teams would all sell their cap and MLB would end up being in the same boat 3-5 years from now. The teams that have no interest in being competitive need to be punished..in other words, they need a reason to not suck.

[rockondlouie]

That's crazy but I love the out of the box thinking RedBaron!

Can you imagine how quickly the Dodgers would buy up all of the Rockies cap space they could, the Mets the same w/the Marlins?

The fascinating thing would be if BDWJr would be a buyer or a seller?

Exactly. We would see exactly how much competitive balance actually means to the owners. The ability to sell cap space would allow teams to achieve the floor and still make a huge profit. It would allow the big spenders to continue to spend and the players to make their money. In essence, it’s still the CBT/revenue sharing, but the money goes directly to the smaller market teams. Baseball doesn’t have a spending problem. It has a revenue distribution problem. This solves that problem.

It's a bright thought RB!

And if a small market team sold a lot of their cap space one seasons, then perhaps they'd have more money to spend on payroll in the next!

[Bubble4427]

I've posted this before but a few ideas to get things started....
Ok, here goes my proposed fixes

1. Hard cap and Hard floor. Contract deferrals are counted against the cap during the contract length (you can’t use deferrals to get around the cap)
2. I suggest 280-300 million cap and a 150 million floor. I think the floor should raise twice as much as the cap does until the disparity between the two is much less
3. EVERY Sport uses a salary cap….baseball is the only sport not to have one and baseball is the sport that is not growing as quickly as the other major sports. When I say growing, I am saying team worth evaluations….
4. Revenue sharing is an absolute must.
5 if a team is in the bottom 3 of payroll 3 years in a row…they should lose premium draft picks as well as a large percentage of their revenue share until they are no longer in the “bottom 3”
6. Every player drafted gets a three year entry level deal. After that, they get 2 years of arbitration and then they become a FA. In my model, the 3 year deals start whether they are in the minors or not. Sounds radical…but the other sports do it that way.

For those that feel that salary caps are un-American…..give me a break. Baseball is not like regular business. It never has been. There is no one that has worked at IBM for 15 years and then can use the money they made and buy IBM. Arod made 750 million dollars during his playing career. When he retired, he could have bought 40-50% ownership in at least 5 of the franchises.

Baseball is broken. It has been for years.
Every sport has a variation of a hard cap except baseball….and every sport is healthier than baseball….hmmmm.

[Talkin' Baseball]

It would allow a team to run over the cap, but they couldn't run hog wild, because they couldn't rely on a team selling their cap space again next year.

[mariontt]

It would allow a team to run over the cap, but they couldn't run hog wild, because they couldn't rely on a team selling their cap space again next year.

In which case they'd have to cut payroll back down to under $400 m before the season starts. Could lead to more player movement, which would make the offseason more fun. Not sure how that works with guaranteed contracts, but I know the NFL has good players become cap casualties every offseason. Could also lead to more 1 year contracts where the team over pays.