NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball proposed delaying the start of a salary cap until 2028, saying teams have too many commitments for next season that wouldn't allow them to reduce spending quickly enough.
A day after the start of free agent negotiations for the 2026-27 offseason, owners on Tuesday proposed to players the sport adopt a hard cap of $258.2 million for 2028 and a floor of $180.2 million, using luxury tax payrolls with average annual values. A team would be allowed to remain as low as 90% of the floor in 2028, which would be $162.18 million, but would have to spend the entire amount of the floor over a three-year period.
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FILE - Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a baseball spring training media day, Feb. 15, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association speaks on the field before Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, left, speaks with Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy prior to Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Mets' Francisco Lindor waves with Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. after being named the 2026 recipient of Major League Baseball's Roberto Clemente Award before Game 3 of baseball's World Series, Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla., between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
“We recognize that clubs will need a full offseason to prepare to operate within the cap and floor system," MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. “This proposal would allow a smoother transition into the cap and floor system without delaying key player benefits, including earlier free agency, a $1 million minimum salary, a 30% increase to the pre-arbitration bonus pool and transactional reform that will reduce roster churn.”
Baseball's five-year labor contract, reached in March 2022 on the 99th day of a lockout, expires Dec. 1 and management is expected to again lock out the union. MLB hadn't proposed a salary cap since the negotiations that led to a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994 that forced cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 years. The players’ association has said it never will accept a cap.
“Coming off another incredible season of baseball, MLB owners continue to propose blowing up the current system and replacing it with one designed to line their pockets and increase their franchise values,” the union said in a statement. “Players stand ready to negotiate in good faith toward a new CBA that will capitalize on our sport’s unprecedented momentum and benefit players, clubs, and fans alike.”
Management's proposal is tied to a 50-50 split of revenue with players, and the union takes issue with management's definitions of revenue and expenses. Cap and floor figures would be lower if there is a work stoppage that causes MLB revenue to decline. Management's May proposal included a fixed $245.3 million figure for a cap and $171.2 million for a floor, also with the provision a club could be at only 90% of the floor.
“The projected salary cap and floor for 2028 continues to provide more money for major league players while leveling the playing field and giving more teams the ability to participate in the free agent market and retain their homegrown stars so that every fan believes their team has a fair chance to win it all,” Caplin said.
Management said eight teams would have to reduce current payroll by a combined $528 million to get under the 2028 cap: Boston, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and Yankees, Philadelphia, San Diego and Toronto.
Twelve teams would have to increase spending by $636 million to reach the floor: the Athletics, the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, Miami, World Series champion Milwaukee, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, AL champion Tampa Bay and Washington.
MLB said it was willing to discuss phase-in timelines and procedures. It would keep the current luxury tax system and revenue-sharing plan for 2027 with the same thresholds and tax rates as in 2026, then centralize MLB media revenue for 2028.
Players claim the cap proposal would eliminate guaranteed contracts because of its escrow provision that would claw back salary money if the players' share of defined revenue in a year is above 50%. The union called the plan “replacement of market-based fundamentals with a zero-sum system that harms the middle class and pits player against player” and said the proposal would lead to “stripping current competitive advantages for smaller market teams." Players said the proposal would cause a $400 million reduction in amateur signing bonuses for 2027.
Owners said they would accept the union's proposal to reduce service time for free-agent eligibility from six seasons of service to five for players at least 30 years old but would give a player's team the right to make a qualifying offer as under the current free-agent rules. If a player rejects the qualifying offer, he would be eligible for salary arbitration.
MLB would accept the union's proposal to eliminate qualifying offers for other free agents.
Management would raise the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1 million for those with two years of service and $900,000 for others — those others would earn $100,000 more from the pre-arbitration bonus pool if they accrue a full year of service as long as they are not on the injured list for half a season or more. Minor league minimums would increase from $63,600 to $73,400 for initial big league deals and $127,100 to $146,700 for additional contracts.
MLB proposed a one-time bonus payment to players as part of the plan, using money from luxury tax proceeds the current labor agreement earmarks for players’ 401(k) accounts. The bonus would be based on 2026 service time, with those in the majors for at least 172 of the 187-day regular season getting $285,000. The bonus would be $213,400 for three-quarters of a year, $142,300 for half and $71,100 for a quarter.
MLB would increase the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $50 million in 2026 to $65 million in 2027, then up to $75 million over the term of a seven-year labor agreement through the 2033 season. It would include Prospect Promotion Incentive draft picks in the international draft MLB wants and would allow a player to earn his team two PPI picks, one in the amateur draft and the other in the international draft. MLB would accept the union's proposal to exclude foreign professionals, such as Japanese players, from the calculation if a player earns additional service time based on his finish in Rookie of the Year voting.
Owners would eliminate a player's fourth option year and reduce optional assignments per season from five to four. They would decrease the number of years by one for when a player must be protected from the Rule 5 draft and allow a player selected in the Rule 5 draft to be optioned.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
FILE - Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a baseball spring training media day, Feb. 15, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association speaks on the field before Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, left, speaks with Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy prior to Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Mets' Francisco Lindor waves with Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. after being named the 2026 recipient of Major League Baseball's Roberto Clemente Award before Game 3 of baseball's World Series, Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla., between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
WASHINGTON (AP) — For Donald Trump, Tuesday’s elections will chart the course for the final two years of his presidency.
If his party loses control of Congress in the midterm elections, the rest of his time in office is likely to be consumed by Democratic-led investigations into his administration and his business dealings, and possibly even another impeachment. The political spotlight will also begin its shift to Republicans and Democrats vying to replace him during the 2028 presidential campaign.
Beyond that, if voters deliver a rebuke to Republicans on Tuesday, Trump will be left with dramatically diminished political capital at home and abroad, as he has all but guaranteed the results will be seen as a referendum on himself by repeatedly urging voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot.”
Placing himself front and center on voters’ minds was a major gamble by the president and his political team, who believed personalizing the midterms would activate “Make America Great Again” supporters who might otherwise be less likely to turn out when Trump was not an official candidate. Democrats were eager to watch the unpopular president insert himself so fully in the campaign, believing it served as an effective reminder of who should be blamed for the state of the economy, which voters said was their top concern.
“Trump’s desire to have everyone think that he’s on the ballot? Like, it’s happening,” said Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who has campaigned in key battlegrounds this fall, including Iowa, Georgia and Texas. “Everyone is thinking about him and the harm that he has done to them directly.”
Enthusiasm about Trump’s leadership is low, according to The AP Voter Poll, an expansive survey of the midterm electorate.
Relatively few voters have positive things to say about Trump’s performance on the economy, according to the survey. About two-thirds of voters nationally say Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the U.S., while only about 3 in 10 said they’ve improved economic conditions. Similarly, about two-thirds of voters say Trump’s tariff policies have “hurt” the national economy, or the economy in their local area.
Views of Trump’s priorities more broadly — and his capabilities as a leader — were also mostly negative. More than half of voters say Trump is not a strong leader, does not fight for people like them, does not have the right priorities and does not have the mental capability to serve effectively as president. About 6 in 10 voters say Trump places a higher priority on his own personal interests than he does the country’s interests, while about 4 in 10 said he puts more weight on the country’s interests.
But if Trump defies the political odds and retains GOP majorities, then he will undoubtedly emerge more powerful and with a stronger grip on his party, which would owe much of its success to the president's monthlong barnstorming of primarily conservative states where he remains very popular with voters. Trump spent Tuesday at the White House and planned to watch election results in a private reception there.
The president — who faced a Democratic-led House for the latter half of his first term — campaigned aggressively in the final weeks to keep the Republican majorities on Capitol Hill because he knows what the consequences would be if Democrats seize power.
But the president at times shrugged off the prospect of a Republican loss of power in Congress, and even told a crowd in Oklahoma that Democrats, if they take power, could impeach him again. “I’ve become very good at beating them in impeachment," Trump said.
The president is also keenly aware of the political power he draws from having a foil leveraging opposition to consolidate support in his party and boost fundraising.
Senior Democrats, as they anticipate a majority in at least one chamber of Congress, have been telegraphing what their top investigative targets would be. Their list is vast, with ambitions to go after the Trump administration’s policies, the conduct of its personnel, and interactions between government officials and private corporations who’ve tried to wield influence with the White House.
For instance, California Rep. Robert Garcia, who is set to lead the powerful House Oversight Committee if Democrats win the House, in recent days has made it clear he plans to dig into the administration’s immigration and detention policies, making an unannounced visit to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in southern California and holding a news conference outlining his agenda to “demand accountability” for ICE’s tactics.
Among his other priorities are the Trump family’s business dealings, the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and broader allegations of corporate corruption.
A Democratic majority would be armed with control of committees, bigger budgets and staff, and subpoena powers that could compel the administration to be responsive to Congress. In response, the White House could reprise its strategy from the first Trump administration, when it slow-walked congressional requests for documents and testimony and asserted executive privilege over certain information.
The president is also bracing for major legislative fights, saying he has a “strong veto."
“I hope that that won’t be the case, but if it is, that’s happened before with many presidents,” Trump told reporters last week. “And you have strong veto and you end up working out deals.”
A potential House speaker, Hakeem Jeffries, would also be confronted with whether to pursue an unprecedented third impeachment against Trump, who was impeached twice in his first term in office but acquitted by the Senate both times. Democratic lawmakers have signaled that, instead, they may go after top Cabinet members, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, one of Trump’s most stridently loyal administration officials who has played a key role in the Iran war that Democrats have decried.
“I'm here to say, one of the first things we’re going to do in the majority, we’re going to run Pete Hegseth out of town,” Jeffries said at an October rally.
Trump’s personal pitch involved a flurry of campaign rallies across the U.S. in the final weeks, increasingly in deeply Republican areas where the apparent need to shore up his party’s candidates was seen as a warning sign.
In an attempt to buck historical trends that have seen the president's party typically lose seats in midterm elections, Trump also tried some novel tactics. He staged a two-day Trump-focused Republican convention in Dallas, and issued a dubious promise that he'd send $5,000 to every adult if his party wins in November.
But his closing message has been disjointed.
On the campaign trail, his lengthy winding remarks typically included some promotion of the local Republican nominees, but plenty of free association that drifted away from the issues voters care about. He's been fixated on the muscular builds of some Republican candidates, regaling crowds in North Carolina, Michigan and Kentucky with descriptions of the impressive backside of Ohio Sen. Jon Husted.
He's also embraced positions at odds with a broad swath of voter concerns, claiming communities that reject data centers will end up “backwards and poor” and claiming affordability is a “hoax” and a word “made up by the Democrats.”
Befitting his unusual strategy, Trump set his closing argument ahead of Tuesday at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and spent much of his hourlong speech bragging about his beautification of Washington, D.C.
“So, we have a lot of great things planned for Washington, and I could get into the nation,” Trump said. “But for that, you don’t have enough time.”
Senate candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, left, stands with President Donald Trump on stage during a campaign rally at the Five Flags Event Center, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Dubuque, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at the Salina Regional Airport, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Salina Kan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One after speaking at a campaign rally at the Salina Regional Airport, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Salina Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Salina Regional Airport, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Salina Kan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Five Flags Event Center, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Dubuque, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
President Donald Trump walks from the podium after speaking at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
