Lots to unpack here.
The thing is, the vast majority of professional baseball players never reach the "cashing in later" phase. They work in minor league ball for sub-minimum wage. A small percentage of them make it to the 40-man roster, which brings a middle-class salary ($40k to $90k); most of that percentage gets at least some time on the 25-man roster ($550k). But many of that last group never receive a multi-year contract, or any guaranteed contract. Some of them never reach arbitration (e.g., they stay on the 25-man roster for less than three years).
So to get to more equity, they really need to address how they compensate the kids who are not on the 40-man roster - so there will not be this situation of "We slaved for chicken feed when young, we deserve to cash in later."
Yes. The flip side of this is that there will be less incentive to pay 32-year-old players much of anything, unless they're unusual players. For example, Andrew McCutchen at 32 is worth a significant salary to the Phillies. Aaron Altherr at 32 will need to find another line of work.
Frankly, MLB might consider eliminating arbitration altogether, in exchange for earlier free agency. I expect that would lead to more early long-term guaranteed contracts, which would help shift total payroll to younger players (at the expense of the occasional Jon Singleton contract!). I don't think this would drive up overall payrolls, though; arbitration has tended to function as an upward ratchet on salary levels.
That said, if there is a real free-agent market, for players with future value as opposed to players who were good when younger, but are now in decline, I would expect clubs to bid for those players until overall salaries reach appropriate levels. If that doesn't happen because clubs collude to avoid bidding (if they "fix" the auction market)... well, in that case, they should find their anti-trust exemption revoked by act of Congress, and anti-trust law enforced by some serious DOJ attorneys.
I think this can only be addressed by making the earlier years more lucrative. As discussed, earlier FA and earlier (or eliminated) arbitration might do that.
With regard to the minors: Require clubs to offer a training table to players, at no cost to the players. Ditto with housing assistance: offer access to shared apartments whose leases are managed by the minor league franchisee - not at no cost, but at reasonable rents, without the players having to deal with upfront costs they can't cover. (I say offer to distinguish from "require," to avoid issues with player independence, etc.) Also, increase the compensation to at least minimum wage, and preferably to the $15/hour rate - hey, if Amazon can manage it... Baseball clubs are not shoestring operations.
This should be a no-brainer for any responsible minor-league franchise. They can't control player salaries (given the National Agreement), but they can be responsible citizen businesses.
Interesting that LHV and Reading do this. I've also seen references to Lakewood arranging housing - looking for "host families" for players. I wonder if Clearwater does this? They're Phillies-owned, as opposed to having local ownership; sometimes that makes a difference. (And Clearwater has to be a brutal environment for players to find housing on the fly, in spring/summer.)
