The Major League Baseball Players Association and MLB met in-person to negotiate the collective bargaining agreement for the first time on Monday, and the union made significant concessions according to multiple reports.
The union dropped two of its three main priorities, The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reported. Previous proposals that would have allowed players to reach free agency earlier and also would have reformed the league’s revenue sharing between teams are now withdrawn.
Owners, so far, have been unwilling to meet the MLBPA’s demands, and pressure is mounting for the two sides to come to an agreement as spring training approaches. In addition to withdrawing their previous asks on free agency and revenue sharing, the union rejected “most if not all” of MLB’s proposal’s from their previous meeting, Drellich reported.
It appears likely that whenever the league and union come to an agreement, the six years of service time players need to hit free agency will remain unchanged.
The next major issue for the union is likely getting players paid earlier in their careers via revisions to the arbitration process. In November, the MLBPA proposed arbitration for players after two seasons — players currently need three years of service time before salary arbitration.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Monday’s meeting was “contentious” and noted there’s still a lot to be worked out before a new labor deal will be agreed upon. But the league and union agreed to reconvene on Tuesday, indicating progress.