Collective bargaining agreement

The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) or Basic Agreement is the agreement between the Major League Baseball Players Association and Major League Baseball describing the rules of employment and the financial structure of the game. A copy of the last CBA can be downloaded from the Players Association web site [1]. The first Basic Agreement was signed on February 21, 1968.

The most recent Agreement was finalized on March 10, 2022 after a 99-day lockout and will last until December of 2026. After two decades of relative labor peace, the previous agreement expired before a new one could be concluded and as a result owners declared a lockout, which extended well into the start of spring training and threatened to shorten the regular season.

The CBA determines issues like the salary structure, including the minimum salary, the mechanics of free agency and salary arbitration, rules pertaining to the amateur draft, how drug testing is conducted, as well as practical matters related to the playing of the game, including certain rule changes, the usage of the functionning of the injured list.

Further Reading

• William B. Gould IV: Bargaining with Baseball: Labor Relations in an Age of Prosperous Turmoil, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2011.
• Michael Haupert and Kenneth Winter: "The Impact of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Collective Bargaining Agreements", Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 47, Nr. 1 (spring 2018), pp. 91-98.
• Bob Nightengale: "Major League Baseball, union agree on new collective bargaining agreement', USA Today Sports, December 1, 2016. [2]

Related Sites

• Article from USA Today on the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated in 2011
• Article from mlb.com on the 2011 agreement
• Details of the 2016 agreement from mlb.com