Dodgers' Freddie Freeman Rips MLB Owners' 'Ridiculous' CBA Proposal, 'All About Money'

In the wake of the latest round of collective bargaining negotiations between MLB owners and the union, Freddie Freeman had some strong comments against the proposed changes from the league.

Speaking to reporters prior on Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers star described the "ridiculous" proposal as being "all about money" as it focused on trying to significantly change the draft.

"I think maybe now the fans will start seeing that it's just money," Freeman said. "Because that's just cutting. It's all about money."

The bargaining session took place on Thursday, with ESPN's Jeff Passan reporting one of the biggest topics of discussion was MLB's proposal for "widespread changes" to the draft system.

Among the changes put forth by the owners were cutting the draft from 20 to 12 rounds with hard-slot bonuses, reducing the total bonus pool by nearly 50 percent down to $200 million and making high-school players ineligible.

ESPN's Alden Gonzalez reported MLB also wants to adopt a 12-round international draft that would include an initial bonus pool of $200 million.

Under the proposal, the first international draft would occur at some point between the fall of 2027 or early 2028. Players would have to turn 18 no later than Sept. 1, 2028.

The current international free-agent system allows teams to sign players as early as 16 years old.

Freeman, who was originally selected by the Atlanta Braves out of high school in 2007, blasted the idea of eliminating high schoolers from the draft.

"I loved coming out of high school," Freeman said. "It got me into the professional ranks. It got me into being able to develop into that organization and how they expect you to play. They believed in you at such a young age."

In exchange for pulling high schoolers out of the draft pool, the owners will only require players to stay in college for two years before becoming draft eligible. The current rule requires college players to remain in school for three years.

One of the critiques of taking high-school talent out of the draft is it's a way to suppress salary. Passan pointed out that of the 12 richest contracts in MLB history, Aaron Judge is the only one signed by a player who went to a traditional four-year college.

Bryce Harper went to a junior college, but he earned his GED in 2009 after dropping out of high school following his sophomore year and reclassified to become eligible for the MLB draft as a 17-year-old in 2010.

Players attending college pushes them into pro ball at a later age, meaning they would also be older when they get to free agency. Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Manny Machado are the only players with contracts worth at least $325 million who were over the age of 29 when they were signed.

MLB and the MLB Players Association are still in the early stages of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA will expire on Dec. 1 and there is a strong expectation there will be a work stoppage that could potentially drag into the 2027 season.