The MLBPA came into the last round of negotiations determined to improve the lot of average veteran players. Did it succeed?
No, because the new agreement did practically nothing to discourage cyclical tanking. The only new measure that will have any impact at all is the lottery for draft picks. That is a good idea that should have been implemented years ago, but it won’t do much to discourage tanking, simply because the MLB draft is far less important to the teams than the NFL or NBA drafts. There is absolutely no certainty that the first pick in the MLB draft will ever make it to the major leagues, much less turn a franchise around.
The fact of the matter is that the players made their own bed by insisting on the capitalist model over the corporate socialist model. In other words, they made a conscious decision to emphasize the earning power of stars over drones. Unless and until the drones take over the MLBPA and demand a complete change in direction, the elite players will continue to get monstrously large paychecks (just as elite entertainers do in other fields), while the rank and file will struggle to get by.