MLB and the Players Association met this past Thursday to discuss core economics for the first time since team owners imposed a lockout when the 2017-21 collective bargaining agreement expired last month.
While that’s reason for optimism, the union reportedly came away disappointed by the league’s proposal. MLB didn’t address the luxury tax threshold or the minimum salary, which are believed to be key in the sides agreeing to a new CBA.
The MLBPA presumably will incorporate those factors when submitting their first CBA counter.
Meanwhile, the league instead focused on other areas such as the arbitration system, proposing a new formula that would give players with between two and three years of service time a raise, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers:
MLB offered a significant revamping of its system in compensating players with between two and three years of major league service time, offering an increase in money going to those players through a formula that would determine their pay. … While MLB’s proposal would eliminate Super 2s in the future, sources said, players who have at least one day of service would be able to choose between the current system that includes Super 2s and the performance-based proposal.
MLB also attempted to address service-time manipulation by incentivizing teams who promote top prospects early, offering draft compensation if a player is included on an Opening Day roster and finds success within his first three seasons:
MLB proposed awarding a draft pick if a team places a Top 100 prospect on its opening day roster, then the player wins Rookie of the Year or finishes in the top three of MVP or Cy Young voting within his first three seasons, sources said. The offer included the possibility of a pick in an international draft, sources said, indicating that the league is continuing to push for a change in the signing of non-domestic amateurs. A team, sources said, could reap only one pick per player, meaning if he won Rookie of the Year and then MVP, the second award would not lead to another pick.
Finally, MLB expanded on its draft lottery idea by sticking to only three teams but offering to make a club that already qualified ineligible for three consecutive seasons:
The third leg of the league’s proposal included a tweak to its draft lottery, which it had previously proposed with three teams, to which the union countered asking for eight. MLB stuck with three teams but proposed that a team be ineligible for the lottery in three consecutive seasons, according to sources.
The Players Association is said to be skeptical of all three proposals as they are against the implementation of a formula for salary arbitration, a top prospect’s potential success being determined by baseball writers and only three teams being eligible for a potential draft lottery.
Will MLB and Players Association agree to new CBA before Spring Training?
Given how far apart they remain on several important issues, it is becoming increasingly likely that a new CBA between the league and union will not be reached by the start of Spring Training.
As it currently stands, pitchers and catchers are due to report to camp on or around February 14. A new deal presumably will have to be agreed to by early March to potentially avoid the cancellation of regular season games.
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