How MLB's New Salary Cap Proposal Could Impact Pirates

Given the disparity between the two parties in where they stand on the issue, a lockout is all but guaranteed to commence on Dec. 1, when the current CBA expires.

There was also a lockout during the last round of labor negotiations heading into the 2022 season, though it ended with an agreement on March 10 and did not result in any games lost.

With the salary cap now coming to the forefront, however, the impending lockout sure feels like it could drag on for a prolonged period, even threatening the 2027 MLB season.

The owners believe a salary cap (and floor) is necessary to institute some competitive balance into the league, among other reasons, while the MLBPA sees it as a way for owners to improve franchise values.

How Pirates Could Be Affected by Latest Salary Cap Proposal

The Pirates are among the clubs that would benefit the most from a salary cap and floor.

Their projected year-end Competitive Balance Tax 40-man payroll has come in at $139.7 million (per Cot's Baseball Contracts), which ranks as the ninth-lowest mark in the league and is over $40 million below MLB's proposed salary floor.

Pittsburgh is one of the league's most infrequent spenders when it comes to the free agent market, as evidenced by the fact that Ryan O'Hearn's two-year, $29 million deal he signed last offseason set a franchise record for the largest handed out to a position player on the open market.

Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs, all of whom had CBT payrolls above MLB's proposed salary cap of $258.2 million in 2026, tend to sign the top free agents year after year.

MLB believes evening the playing field from a spending perspective would lead to less of a talent disadvantage when it comes to the big- and small-market clubs, because it wouldn't allow the former to flex their financial wealth by handing out massive contracts every offseason while also holding onto their homegrown stars.

It's no guarantee that a salary cap and floor will actually be introduced to baseball, though if that does occur, it would force the Pirates to spend far more money than they've typically been comfortable doling out.

With less than a month before the lockout is expected to begin, Pittsburgh doesn't have a head start on a potential transition into the salary cap and floor system in free agency because of all the uncertainty currently surrounding it.

Instead, the organization will have to wait until a new CBA is agreed to, whenever that may be, and adjust its payroll accordingly for the 2028 campaign and beyond.

At a minimum, though, it would open up more possibilities for the Pirates to keep their own players and also bring in outside talent moving forward.