MLB seeks ability to reduce size of Domestic Reserve List in latest labor offer to players' union, sources say

Major League Baseball asked for the ability to eliminate hundreds of minor league playing jobs in its latest labor offer to the MLB Players Association, sources familiar with the proposal told ESPN.

Currently, the Domestic Reserve List — which governs the number of minor league players a team can roster at any time — is at 180. The league proposed keeping the number at 180 for 2022 but allowing the commissioner's office to reduce the maximum number of players «below 150» over the rest of the collective-bargaining agreement, sources said. The proposal says the league could adjust the reserve list's size «up or down.»

MLB, according to a league source, has no plans to reduce the size of the list in 2023 but wants the flexibility to do so in future seasons.

The minor leagues already have undergone a massive overhaul in recent years. In December 2020, MLB eliminated 42 teams — and an unknown number of playing jobs — implementing a structure in which 120 teams were spread out evenly among the 30 major league clubs: one Triple-A, Double-A, High-A and Low-A affiliate each.

The Domestic Reserve List was implemented as part of the changes. Teams previously were not limited in the number of players they could have under minor league contracts. Five teams presently have more than 180 minor leaguers on their Domestic Reserve List, according to a league source. (Teams can have up to 190 players on it during the offseason.) Two teams, the source said, have fewer than 150.

The potential roster trimming was part of a 28-point package on transactions that included a proposal to limit the number of options — or times a player can be returned from the major leagues to the minor leagues in one season — to five, according to sources.