I don't understand the pushback on a cap when a floor would have to be part of that. Look at the current payrolls for the 2025 season:
A real-time look at the 2025 salary payroll totals for each MLB team..
www.spotrac.com
The average payroll is $154 million. Let's say it bumps up to $160 million when the remaining guys like Bregman sign. There are only 12 teams right now paying more than that. The money will be there.
I also agree that team control needs to be reconfigured. Personally, I think the NHL model would work best for MLB. Baseball players generally don't mature like NBA players and hit the ground running at 19-20. But, that doesn't mean they should get their service time rigged and ferried around the minors until they're 28.
The unrestricted free agency rule for NHL is guys become UFAs no matter what if they are 27 by June 30th or if they've been in the league for seven years (some guys in the NHL are playing at 18). NOBODY likes that most free agents hit the market for the first time in their 30s. If Bregman was a free agent three years ago, he would already be signed to a $200 million deal. He turns 31 at the end of March so teams are hesitant to give him a long term deal. It makes sense, but it's not fair and a terrible system.
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