Major League Baseball and the Players Association failed to come to terms on a new deal before the 2017-2021 collective bargaining agreement expired at 8:59 p.m. PT on Dec. 1, and it prompted team owners to impose a lockout that took effect immediately.
It is the ninth work stoppage in MLB’s history and the first the 1994 players’ strike that led to the World Series being cancelled and the freeze stretched into the following year.
Not much progress has been made between the two sides but that wasn’t expected until the new year and an agreement likely won’t be reached until just before Spring Training is scheduled to begin.
Until then, the two sides will continue to negotiate and MLB is preparing new CBA proposals to offer to the MLBPA, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN:
And now, five weeks later, the fallout of the failed discussions remains unresolved, according to sources. The union believes it’s the league’s turn to make an offer and, according to a source, MLB is working on proposals to bring to the table
After the lockout began, the two sides issued combative statements and since then not much, if anything, has improved.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred also placed blame on the union for refusing to waver from “collectively the most extreme set of proposals in their history.”
MLBPA lead negotiator Bruce Meyer and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark have countered by saying the league is responsible for the radical proposals.
MLB and the MLBPA have long been at odds over various issues, including new rule changes, competitive integrity and service-time manipulation. Tensions have been particularly high since the two sides were unable to agree on an economics plan for the COVID-impacted 2020 season.
Average MLB team payrolls declined despite increasing revenue
Better compensation has been one of the key points the MLB Players Association has been fighting for, according to Clark.
Despite revenue in MLB increasing in every year besides 2020’s COVID-impacted season, payrolls around the league have been dropping by nearly 5% since their previous high in 2017.
The union hopes to solve by helping players get paid properly earlier in their career as opposed to the current system that limits earnings until they have six years of experience and can reach free agency.
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