For those that don't know, CBA stands for Collective Bargaining Agreement. All pro leagues have one, and so does the JAL, because we like to think we're professional wiffleball players.
A CBA is basically a list of rules for what teams can do off of the field. To read through the JAL's current CBA click here: https://goo.gl/BkbCbM
The reason we're talking about the league's CBA is because the current one expires in a couple weeks on Feb. 3, which means the league has to construct a new one. To go about doing this the JAL will discuss possible things to get rid of, change, or add. When it comes time to draft the new CBA, league officials and team owners will vote on the important issues that have been raised. Based on preliminary suggests and conversation among people associated with the league, here are a few of those issues that will be up for consideration...
Roster Limit
Right now, teams are allowed to have 4 players on their roster. If this rule is going to be changed it will most likely be an increase to 5 players.
Salary Cap
The JAL has two types of owners: 1. Owners that will shell out money to sign the best players 2. Owners that don't want to spend much more than the $5 they're given by the league. Whether or not the league should have a salary cap will probably be the most heated issue for the new CBA, and if it becomes implemented what will the cap amount be?
Franchise Tag
A franchise tag means that when a player becomes a free agent from a team, that team can exercise the option to automatically sign the player to a pre-determined amount for 1 extra season (or in our case tournament). Obviously a number of owners are in favor of adding this rule to the league because, of course, there's nothing worse than losing your best players to free agency. On the other hand, some owners don't like this idea because it makes signing new free agent talent more difficult.
New CBA Expiration Date
Of course, when the new CBA becomes official so will the rules within it. Whatever those new rules turn out to be, it's unlikely that 100% of people will be in favor of them. Because of this, determining how long the league will be played under the new CBA before another new one can be made will be a topic of discussion in and of itself.
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