MLB wants to make the LA Olympics in 2028 mandatory for chosen players. Skip out without an approved excuse, and you're on the restricted list without pay and service time for as many as 25 days through Aug. 3 that year — well after the second half begins July 21. www.nytimes.com/athletic/744...

"Our game is in a great place. ... I have watched over the last few years the owners, the commissioner’s office, try to convince fans, the consumers of their product, that their product is broken. "I think it’s perverse." — Bruce Meyer of the MLBPA in opening remarks this morning to press

Details of what the MLBPA proposed today, including: the trade deadline would fall between July 21-27 (currently has to be between July 28-Aug. 3) — and, wrinkle, outrighted players could be traded after the deadline www.nytimes.com/athletic/741...

Forget eliminating Shohei Ohtani-esque, $700 million contracts in free agency. If the owners have their way in baseball’s labor negotiations, Alex Rodriguez’s $252-million signing from a quarter century ago wouldn’t be allowed in the future either. www.nytimes.com/athletic/739...

How experts in labor negotiations look at the early stages of MLB bargaining… and with good timing! Because the sides are back at the negotiating table today, with MLB set to make its first proposals on some key economic issues. www.nytimes.com/athletic/739...

News: the Home Run Derby is ditching the clock. MLB is using a "swings" system in this year's derby. 1st round: 20 swings 2nd and 3rd: 15 hacks. On your last pitch each round, swing til you don't go deep. (Deleted original post which called it an "outs" system.) www.nytimes.com/athletic/737...

President Trump said Friday that Major League Baseball should have added a salary cap "a long time ago." "Don't they sort of have one?" The president has picked a side in baseball's labor talks: the owners'. www.nytimes.com/athletic/733...

MLB is positioning a salary cap as a way to end local TV blackouts. What's the catch? A few things. www.nytimes.com/athletic/733...

Rob Manfred said in October 2024 that MLB had a "darn good" record on competitive balance. Back in 2018, he said the correlation between winning and spending was "extraordinarily weak." Now, he says MLB's luxury-tax system has failed: www.nytimes.com/athletic/733...

One of the finer points of the MLBPA's proposal last week: the union asked MLB to publicly release some financial information, including how much each team gets in local revenue sharing. On "opening the books" www.nytimes.com/athletic/732...

Sacramento group launches bid for Major League Baseball’s expansion efforts. First task: pull in a lead owner “It’s true that Sacramento will be perceived as an underdog" www.nytimes.com/athletic/731...

In an assertive opening move to this round of labor negotiations, the Major League Baseball Players Association on Wednesday tried to head off what they know is coming: the owners’ push for a salary cap. The updated story: www.nytimes.com/athletic/731...

As MLB labor negotiations continue today and tomorrow — and a cap proposal arrives — one issue might decide the sport's fate. MLB franchise values trail the NBA and NFL. Why that's become so important: “To get change, I think you do what you have to do” www.nytimes.com/athletic/731...

News: It has begun. Major League Baseball and the Players Association are holding their first collective bargaining meeting in New York today, making opening presentations ahead of what's expected to be a lengthy fight over a salary cap. www.nytimes.com/athletic/727...

Welcome to leverage theater. MLB labor negotiations are about to begin. Here's your guide to the process and what to expect: www.nytimes.com/athletic/723...

In new book, Lew Wolff says ‘despicable’ San Francisco Giants to blame for Athletics relocation www.nytimes.com/athletic/721...

Two years ago, Harry Marino helped orchestrate a player mutiny challenging the MLBPA's leadership. In his first interview about the events, Marino says they should be remembered not as "coup," but as the start of "an overdue reckoning." www.nytimes.com/athletic/717...

Former MLB commissioner Peter Ueberroth's daughter has gone to court to fight for control of her family's trust amidst her parents' cognitive decline. She alleges that the trustee — who is also the chairman of Tiger Woods' foundation — has misused millions www.nytimes.com/athletic/715...

MLB players and owners alike have stockpiled cash ahead of the expected lockout later this year www.nytimes.com/athletic/716...

Has MLB overtaken the NBA as America’s No. 2 league? From @stephenjnesbitt.bsky.social @evandrellich.bsky.social and me Free link: www.nytimes.com/athletic/714...

News: As Opening Day arrives, MLB first- and third-base coaches fear for their safety from line drives because of MLB's rule change to keep them in their designated boxes. Aaron Boone: “They’re in harm’s way, bottom line.” With @ken-rosenthal.bsky.social and more www.nytimes.com/athletic/714...

Coming off a stellar World Baseball Classic, baseball has never been more popular across the globe. Pierre Ducrey, sports director for the International Olympic Committee, on anticipation for 2028, and whether baseball could become permanent again: www.nytimes.com/athletic/713...

Miami has been so loud as the host of the World Baseball Classic, the games so well attended that some tournament officials think it should be the de facto host of the WBC going forward: “I think Miami is always going to be in the rotation in some way" www.nytimes.com/athletic/712...

Half the remaining teams in the World Baseball Classic are playing for a spot in the 2028 Olympics. How MLB, the MLBPA and the WBSC determined the Olympic qualifying set-up, and why the union pushed for two teams to come out of the WBC rather than one: www.nytimes.com/athletic/711...

The A’s used to let their star players walk. A move to Vegas is changing things www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

The most important (and convoluted) aspect of the World Baseball Classic that nobody is talking about: www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

What Tony Clark’s exit means for the MLBPA and an expected lockout www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

What would MLB look like with a salary cap? Everything you need to know about the wide-ranging, game-changing effects, from free agency to, yes, competitive balance MLB wants an NHL-style hard cap. $240m ceiling, $160m floor could be target www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

“There shouldn’t be any sort of source of discord between these two institutions,” Naftali said of baseball and the White House. “They’re both national institutions. One has nuclear weapons, the other one does not.” www.nytimes.com/athletic/703...

What's the deal with baseball games on TV? www.nytimes.com/athletic/701...

Explaining the World Baseball Classic insurance denials fiasco, with @ken-rosenthal.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/701...

“A 100 percent certainty” that the owners will push for a salary cap in wake of Kyle Tucker deal with the Dodgers, ownership source says. “These guys are going to go for a cap no matter what it takes." www.nytimes.com/athletic/698...

New pod: @theathletic.com's @evandrellich.bsky.social on what MLB's offseason tells us about the sport's coming labor battle. open.spotify.com/episode/02yA...

FanDuel Sports Network is offering three-year deals to MLB teams to return. The offers depend, however, on FanDuel SN finding a buyer. The latest on the fate of a major sports broadcasting company: www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...

“The league and owners say they want to avoid missing games but at the same time they appear to be dead-set on trying to force players into a system that, the last time they proposed it, led to the most missed games ever and a cancelled World Series.” www.nytimes.com/athletic/696...

“I’ve never been in a negotiation where, before the first piece of paper went across the table, I, or anyone I represented, was out there saying, ‘This, we absolutely will not talk about.’ I just think it’s a hard way to begin a negotiation.” www.nytimes.com/athletic/696...

“But if their true interest is to blow up the very system on which our streak of uninterrupted seasons has been built — with the game reaching record heights and poised to go even higher, no less — that would be a self-defeating miscalculation of massive proportions” www.nytimes.com/athletic/695...

Rob Manfred wants a free agency signing deadline in baseball: "a great marketing opportunity for the game" Brent Rooker: "pretty close to the most anti-player idea you could possibly have" Tony Clark and agents Joel Wolfe, Scott Boras weigh in: www.nytimes.com/athletic/695...

Last winter Rob Manfred had luxury-tax money — up to $15m per team — to give clubs that took haircuts on their TV deals: a “media disruption distribution.” But it was a 1-year deal that MLB did not bring back this winter. The problems, though? They’re back. www.nytimes.com/athletic/694...

Hello, I’d like to share some opinions to commemorate the new year! I may do this annually! Cheers!

John Fisher and David Forst on the State of the A’s after Year One in Sacramento. Fisher and Forst are in extension talks, the owner said www.nytimes.com/athletic/691...

Before betting probe, MLB caught Emmanuel Clase breaking cell phone rules built for sign-stealing era. With @zackmeisel.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/690...

The winter meetings could well wind up canceled next year. But in an era when it’s easy to communicate digitally, MLB and participants still see value in the annual convention www.nytimes.com/athletic/688...

A former MLB general manager is now an agent — to coaches and execs, who have fewer options www.nytimes.com/athletic/687...

MLB formed a fan council. It wasn’t long before the league made its pitch on labor issues www.nytimes.com/athletic/685...

"Mr. Manfred’s comments suggesting there’s ‘nothing to see here’ both mischaracterize the facts & are extremely revealing of the league’s general approach to labor negotiations. There is nothing 'business as usual’ about ... a ‘mole’ for the commissioner’s office" www.nytimes.com/athletic/682...

Rob Manfred talks prop betting restrictions: "I’m glad we’ve done something about it" www.nytimes.com/athletic/682...

MLB is flying high. Why does it seem to be barreling toward a work stoppage? www.nytimes.com/athletic/681...

“But I think to try to get too cute with that, you’re probably just asking for trouble.” GMs and agents on how the potential lockout after next season is affecting the market: www.nytimes.com/athletic/680...

“F the players,” Murray responded, according to the MLBPA documents. “I’m still so pissed off I can’t see straight.” “We need them to be kissed (sic) off at their leadership,” Courtney replied. “Believe me, it is priority for me,” Murray said. www.nytimes.com/athletic/676...