Major League Baseball and the Players Association failing to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement before the Dec. 1 deadline prompted team owners to unanimously impose the fourth lockout in the sport’s history.
The work stoppage has halted Major League player activity for the foreseeable future, including free agency, trades and the use of team facilities.
Although the league and union remain in serious disagreement over an array of matters, the sides reportedly met Thursday to discuss areas outside of core economics.
While MLB and the Players Association getting together is reason for optimism, they likely won’t address the major issues until January, via Evan Drellich of The Athletic:
It’s been a long December in the baseball world, and there’s no reason to believe that’s about to change. Major League Baseball and the Players Association are unlikely to talk core economics until January, people with knowledge of the talks said.
The core issues at hand that the league and union must find common ground on are competitive integrity and service-time manipulation. MLB also has pushed several new rule changes that the Players Association may not be fond of, including an expanded postseason and draft lottery.
While commissioner Rob Manfred justified the necessity of a lockout, he is aware of the importance of striking a new CBA as soon as possible in order to prevent potential disruption to the 2022 season. At present time, Spring Training camps remain scheduled to open in February.
Meyer: ‘Radical’ proposals coming from MLB
When the work stoppage first went into effect at the start of December, the league and union took turns on placing the blame on one another.
Manfred specifically attributed the lockout coming to fruition on the Players Association’s refusal to waver from “collectively the most extreme set of proposals in their history.”
He predictably was met by pushback from MLBPA executive director Tony Clark. Lead negotiator Bruce Meyer later expanded on that by claiming the only radical proposals have come from MLB’s side.
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