Dodgers face direct attack in MLB's absurd new proposed offseason schedule

It's all but inevitable: a lockout is coming. Players and owners (and Major League Baseball) have rarely ever, if ever, been further apart on basically every issue under the sun.

The most pressing topic at hand is whether or not a salary cap (and floor) will be implemented for the first time in organized baseball's 125-year history, but it's not just that. There have been talks of excluding high schoolers from the amateur draft, limiting free agent contracts, toying with roster expansion early in the season, and so on.

MLB's latest proposal offers up extreme changes to free agency. The headline: shortening the free agency window to a 2-3 week period.

In a world where MLB gets its way, the Los Angeles Dodgers would be uniquely affected. The league has already proposed not only a salary cap but banning deferrals and capping free agent contracts at five years.

When it comes to free agent signings, Andrew Friedman has tended to operate at a slow trickle. This past offseason, he started by re-signing Miguel Rojas in early December (a no-brainer), and quickly followed it up with the Edwin Díaz signing, but there was a long standstill between the newly-signed Dodgers reliever and Kyle Tucker accepting his four-year, $240 million contract in late January.

What is not unique to the Dodgers: a free agent window, especially one this short, is just another way to disempower free agents.

MLB's latest CBA proposal offers extreme changes to offseason schedule

The NBA and NFL, which both have salary caps, force their free agents to operate under certain constraints, but do not have an official hard stop to their free agency windows. Players still tend to sign quickly, given they operate under caps, but a set window would be unique to the big four American sports.

Without a cap, a free agency rush in MLB would pressure players into taking under-market contracts quickly, with the awareness that they won't have much time to renegotiate. With a cap, however, a window makes a bit more sense.

It all comes back to the salary cap. It's unclear if these latest proposal changes are in addition to their already proposed $245.3 million ceiling and $171.2 million floor, but it's safe to assume that they are. While players would vehemently oppose a window regardless, the cap is still the biggest issue on the table, and all of MLB's free agency proposals have to be understood under that umbrella.

And the players simply won't have it. Buckle up folks, it's going to be a long winter.

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