Sunday’s collective bargaining agreement negotiations in New York went nowhere, as the league’s owners were disappointed by the union’s proposal.
On core economics, the MLBPA dropped its ask on bonus pool arbitration from $85 million to $80 million, according to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich. MLB’s most recent proposal on the subject was $30 million. The union did not move on the draft lottery size, competitive balance tax or minimum salaries, per Drellich.
The MLBPA also reportedly offered the owners the ability to implement on-field changes — bigger bases, a pitch clock and defensive shift restrictions — as early as the 2023 season. With positions on both sides set on key economic areas, that power is another concession the union could make to try to reach an agreement.
But that’s not apparently how the owners saw it.
“We were hoping to see some movement in our direction to give us additional flexibility and get a deal done quickly,” MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin said Sunday. “The Players Association chose to come back to us with a proposal that was worse than Monday night and was not designed to move the process forward.
“On some issues, they even went backwards,” the spokesperson said. “Simply put, we are deadlocked. We will try to figure out how to respond, but nothing in this proposal makes it easy.”
A union official strongly denied the idea that their proposal went backwards.
The CBT, also known as the luxury tax, appears to be the most contentious issue remaining on the table. MLB wants the CBT threshold to begin at $220 million and move to $230 million over five years, while the players proposed a starting point of $238 million. The competitive balance tax was implemented to curb runaway spending by big market teams, but has morphed into a salary cap as owners seek to avoid penalties that comes with crossing the threshold.
MLB has already canceled the first two series of the regular season as negotiations stalled in Jupiter, Fla. The union unanimously rejected MLB’s “final” offer before the league-imposed deadline to save a March 31 Opening Day.
The league’s phrasing has been something to watch. Commissioner Rob Manfred denied using the words “best and final offer” as was reported, and insisted in his press conference from Jupiter that an impasse isn’t imminent. But “deadlocked” is now a word that has come up multiple times.
William Gould IV, the former National Labor Relations Board chair who helped play resume with an injunction vote in 1995, told KNBR last week he doesn’t see this situation escalating to government intervention.
But the longer the two sides remain far apart, the more games will be missed. There wasn’t an official bargaining session scheduled. Monday marks the 96th day of the lockout.