Baseball players ask for expanded free agency, salary arbitration rights, almost doubling minimum

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Baseball players have requested expanded free agency, salary arbitration rights, and nearly doubling the minimum salary in upcoming labor negotiations with Major League Baseball. The union aims to increase revenue sharing for less wealthy clubs as MLB prepares to propose a salary cap and potentially initiate a lockout.

Baseball players fired the opening salvo Wednesday in what is expected to be long and contentious labor negotiations, asking for expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum and increasing the money high-revenue teams share with the less-wealthy clubs. A day before Major League Baseball is expected to make a salary cap proposal, the union outlined its initial economic proposals during a bargaining session at the union's office in Manhattan. Baseball’s labor contract expires Dec. 1 and MLB is expected to institute a lockout, management’s equivalent of a strike under federal labor law.