Overview
- Major League Baseball, which submitted the package Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, proposed returning to a 154-game regular season that the league says would begin in 2029.
- The owners also proposed expanding the Division Series from best-of-five to best-of-seven starting in 2029 and included a plan to let higher-seeded teams pick their Wild Card and Division Series opponents, with some reports saying opponent selection could be phased in earlier.
- The 154-game plan would add a scheduled Monday off-day for most clubs, free up a new national broadcast window and shorten the regular season by about a week while the league says it would not cut base salaries and would proportionally adjust bonus and option thresholds.
- The Major League Baseball Players Association is reviewing the proposals and publicly criticized the league for making the package conditional on players agreeing to a salary cap, calling that condition harmful to player rights and pay.
- If owners and players do not reach agreement before the next CBA deadline, bargaining remains on a path that could lead to a lockout or strike and the changes would also affect career and single-season records, postseason timing and media revenues.