Dillon Dingler could be benefactor of MLB's latest CBA proposal (but Tigers could still win)

A year ago, Tarik Skubal was the talk of the offseason as the Tigers tried to get a deal done before the season, but it just didn’t happen. Eventually, Detroit traded him to the Dodgers for a few prospects, headlined by Zyhir Hope — a top-30 MLB prospect.

Now, the organization is focusing on the future and other contracts that will need to be negotiated before ”homegrown” star players experience the same fate as Skubal.

That means it’s time to focus on Dillon Dingler, who’s inching closer to free agency.

Right now, players have to play six years in the MLB before they’re eligible for free agency, but a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is being negotiated and a proposed new rule would allow players 30 years old and older to join free agency after five years of MLB service. That would allow Dingler to hit free agency after the 2028 season instead of after 2029, because he’ll turn 30 in September 2028.

Dingler will be able to negotiate a much larger contract a year early, if this is agreed upon, if he doesn’t sign an extension with Detroit before that can happen.

Detroit doesn’t want to keep selling at the deadline, so it needs to get deals done with a cornerstone player like Dingler or it could risk losing him to free agency a year early.

This new CBA proposal may not be all bad for the Tigers and Dingler, however.

The Cornerstone Player Provision would help the Tigers

There’s another proposed rule change that would actually help the Tigers even in the event that Dingler is allowed to hit free agency a year earlier than expected.

The Cornerstone Player Provision has been proposed by the MLB and it would make re-signing star players much likelier. The provision essentially states that players who choose to sign with new teams would only be allowed up to five-year deals for a smaller percentage of the salary cap than if they re-signed with their current team.

Re-signing players can sign up to six-year deals worth more money. This is an effort to keep small market teams relevant and keep players that organizations have developed at home.

While Dingler could hit free agency a year earlier under these new proposed rules, he would also be more likely to sign with the Tigers than anyone else given the fact that he could sign a longer-term deal for more money with Detroit.

It seems as if both sides would benefit from the new CBA proposal.

Scott Harris just needs to get a deal done so he won’t have to worry about the new rules.

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