MLB's Latest CBA Proposal Would Be Surprisingly Bad for Red Sox

There was a stretch for a few years in which the Boston Red Sox got a lot of heat for a lack of spending. Things changed in 2025 and the Red Sox have started inching back to their old ways.

While this is the case, if the latest collective bargaining agreement proposal from the league were to become a reality, Boston would actually have to cut spending. On Tuesday, the league proposed a $258.2 million salary cap while the floor would be $180.2 million. In 2026, the Red Sox actually were one of eight teams with a total tax payroll above $258.2 million. The Red Sox were sixth in the league at just over $271 million.

In the league's proposal, the salary cap wouldn't actually come into play until 2028. So, the Red Sox would have time to get into compliance. But this is certainly an intriguing wrinkle in the ongoing labor negotiations. The Red Sox have quickly gone from a team that wasn't spending enough, but now they're spending too much in the eyes of the latest MLB proposal.

Not The Best For Boston

May 18, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; A Boston Red Sox hat and glove rests on the railing by the dugout prior to a game against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The MLBPA shut down the proposal already. But this idea of a salary cap and a salary floor isn't going away anytime soon. The league has already started to budge a tad. They increased their proposals for the salary cap and the salary floor already. Plus, they offered to delay the implementation until 2028. But there arguably won't be any real traction until the proposals get even higher.

A $258.2 million salary cap is arguably too low. If nearly a third of the league is above that right now, that arguably doesn't show a massive disparity in spending, but it does show that the number is too low. There are only five teams in baseball that spent over $300 million in 2026. If the league is going to implement a salary cap, that arguably has to be the starting point, or at least very close to it. If you're going to want the MLBPA to even think about the idea of adding a salary cap, there still has to be the opportunity at the top of the market for things to not change too much. A $300 million salary cap would fit that description. In that scenario, the clubs at the top would still have the chance to spend pretty heavily, so the top of the market wouldn't change drastically.

Mix that with the salary floor and there actually could be more money spent in general. A $300 million salary cap and a $180 million salary floor would be very, very interesting. The bottom teams would have to actually start spending and there would be some shaved off the top. Arguably, the teams choosing not to spend are more of a problem than the teams at the top, although the difference between teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets and the rest is too much at this point.

Boston hasn't blown anyone away with its spending. So, the fact that it would have to spend less in this proposal isn't the best look. But nothing has been finalized yet. It's just another step.

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