{"id":1898,"date":"2026-06-04T06:34:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T06:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1898"},"modified":"2026-06-04T06:34:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T06:34:32","slug":"mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-competitive-balance-tax-was-a-mistake-but-salary-cap-might-be-a-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1898","title":{"rendered":"MLB commissioner Rob Manfred: competitive balance tax was a mistake, but salary cap might be a solution."},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>NEW YORK \u2014 After 23 years, Major League Baseball is now admitting it had it all wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1897\">Red Sox match their Fenway Park season-best in runs and hits in win over Orioles<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Taxing the owners on their high payrolls is not going to scare off owners from spending what they want to spend and, presumably, level the playing field of which teams are competitive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What will work, the league now believes, is capping the salaries of players.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>And that is why, at the real risk of the first work stoppage since the last time the owners tried, the owners want the players to approve a salary cap.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe had tried mightily over several rounds of bargaining to use a competitive balance tax to address competitive concerns,\u201d said  commissioner Rob Manfred of the competitive balance tax (CBT) system that\u2019s been in use since 2003. \u201cSometimes you\u2019ve got to admit you failed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Everything gets back to the notion of \u201ccompetitiveness\u201d for the owners\u2019 plan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If there\u2019s more of it, the league believes, there will be more interest, and more interest will translate into higher revenues and higher franchise values, with players benefitting from the former.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>And a cap, not taxes, is the path to competitiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cLook, in the context of the postseason, we\u2019re trying to generate interest and maximize viewership \u2014 I think it\u2019s important to emphasize competitiveness,\u201d said Manfred. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had repeat winners until the Dodgers [last November]. I think that when we think about it from a labor perspective, we\u2019re focused on an entirely different part of the calendar and that\u2019s the offseason when you\u2019re trying to sell season tickets. The perception among our fans that\u2019s really strong is that we have a lack of competitiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe never thought about the CBT as a revenue-generating device, and when you see more and more tax getting paid, you realize that it is not the kind of speed bump that would help on the issue of competitiveness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In speaking about the players\u2019 stance and also the owners, Manfred delivered mostly concise answers to questions. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The closest he got going toe-to-toe with MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer was in asserting the union head presented an inaccurate picture of the cap\u2019s impact. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Earlier this week, Meyer offered detailed explanations for why the union believes the salary cap is a flawed concept. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One problem, he said, was that players stood to make less money under the new proposed structure than they are making combined this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1895\">Presidential museum showcases political and personal sides of Obama with sprawling community campus<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAll I can tell you about our initial proposal is that it was specifically constructed to ensure that in the first year of the contract, major league players would make more money than they made in 2026,\u201d said Manfred. \u201cTo the extent that anybody is suggesting something other than that, it\u2019s just not accurate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He waved off the idea that the union\u2019s early and definitive flat rejection of the salary cap meant there was no point to bringing it up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cEverybody gets to make their own proposals \u2013 I think if I said I\u2019m not interested in increasing the minimum salary no matter what, I doubt that the union would say, \u2018OK, that\u2019s great, no minimum salary,\u2019 \u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a process. We think we made a proposal that addresses probably the most significant business concern for us, and we think addressing that concern will have really significant upside for the owners and the players.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Asked if sticking with the cap proposal, even though the union has made it clear it will not accept it, is worth the risk of the first work stoppage in 32 years, Manfred said he would not speculate on work stoppages.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI think that the players are smart people,\u201d said Manfred. \u201cI think they understand that payroll is a significant advantage for certain clubs, and that high-payroll clubs win more than low-payroll clubs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That concern from the fans shows up in quantifiable ways, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cTeams that go through periods, particularly longer periods, of non-competitiveness not only have lower revenues but they are slower to recover once they become competitive,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Manfred said there are plenty of topics the sides have yet to start discussing. There is not a fixed date yet for the next round of talks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019m anxious to get back in the room,\u201d said Manfred.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The labor talks impact two key events in the not-so-distant future: MLB players participation in the LA Summer Olympics in 2028 and when the next World Baseball Classic will be held.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For the Olympics, Manfred said players are treating it on a different track than labor talks which he said was positive since \u201cwe can\u2019t wait on a commitment for that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1893\">Trump says he\u2019s nominating Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>The next WBC is expected to take place in 2029 or 2030.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>League faces an uphill battle trying to get the MLB Players Association to approve a salary cap in labor talks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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