How minor league players unionizing could affect Bowman
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When minor league baseball players joined the Major League Baseball Players Association earlier this year, it was a remarkable win for the future of these young players.
Better working conditions. Better pay. Better opportunities.
More trading cards? Maybe.
We don’t know yet how MiLB being part of the union will affect trading, but we can make educated guesses based on the past.
MLB players sign a group licensing agreement (GLA), which allows companies that have deals with the Players Association to use their likenesses in products. This is what allows Topps and Panini America to put active (and one-year post retirement) players on cards.
There have been notable players missing from past sets, such as Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro, Matt Wieters. These missing players often opted out of the GLA. In Bonds’s case, he didn’t sign the GLA and chose to pursue his own individual deals. This is how “Reggie Stocker” became famous in video games.
There isn’t a GLA for minor leaguers — yet. These details still have yet to be disclosed if they have been decided. (For the record, I asked, but have received no comment).
There could be significant changes to Bowman sets if MiLB players sign a GLA.
This comes with the good and bad.
Good: Topps would not have to sign minor leaguer players to individual deals to get them on cards (but that would mean no autographs for some). Up until this point, players in Bowman products struck their own deals for their Bowman cards.
It’s why some players miss out in Bowman cards or don’t appear for a couple of release cycles.
If a GLA is used, it could make Bowman Draft a true Draft product. Players who are drafted in the summer and sign with their teams, could appear on cards later that year.
For example, 2021 second-overall draft pick Jack Leiter hasn’t had a Bowman card yet. But the Texas Rangers prospect does have an autograph deal with Leaf and Panini. If you want to collect his cards, those are the only options so far.
Bad: It could water down Bowman with prospects whose chance of making an MLB roster are incredibly low.
Autographs of top players may still be limited since autograph deals are done separately from the GLA.
For the union and the players, this is good news though as it would spread the wealth amongst more of the athletes.
A side note, team sets could also be affected. With the players as part of the union and Topps/Fanatics having the exclusive MLBPA contract, teams may not be able to make their own cards anymore and everything would go through Topps.
We’ll have to wait for MLBPA to release information to see how minor leaguers unionizing will affect Bowman products in 2023.
