NEW YORK – Baseball labor talks to end the lockout resumed on Thursday for the first time in a month and a half with little apparent progress during a negotiating session that lasted about an hour, jeopardizing the timely start of spring training.
Major League Baseball (MLB) imposed the lockout on Dec. 2 as soon as the five-year collective bargaining contract expired, a few hours after the talks broke down.
Thursday’s discussions were the first on core economic issues after a 42-day gap, and MLB made proposals that it hoped would at least begin to build momentum.
After MLB made its proposal, the parties met. The Players Association later told MLB that it will respond, but did not commit to a specific date.
While the parties did re-negotiate, they met just five weeks before the scheduled start of spring training on February 16. Given the time it takes for players to travel to Florida and Arizona, and then go through covid-19 protocols before taking the field, the prospects for a timely start are dwindling.
An agreement would need to be reached in late February or early March to allow the minimum training time before the current opening day, set for March 31.
The MLB proposal contained no movement on free agency eligibility or luxury tax thresholds, two people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because no public comment was authorized.
MLB offered to maintain salary arbitration for players with at least three but less than six years of service in the Major Leagues. It has also offered a new system that would switch to a WAR-based group, but the union has shown no interest in such a change.
MLB proposed replacing the “super twos,” the top 22%, by serving those with at least two seasons but fewer than three, with additional expenses for the entire class of more than two based on performance.
The teams proposed to address the union’s concern about the manipulation of club service time by allowing a team to obtain an additional draft pick for an achievement from a player who is not yet eligible for arbitration, such as a high voting result. of awards.
There was no movement in different sides’ positions on luxury tax levels, minimum wages, or the union’s desire to lower revenue sharing, leaving big-market teams with more money to spend.
The luxury tax threshold was $ 210 million in 2021, and MLB proposed raising the threshold to $ 214 million. Players have called for raising the threshold to $ 245 million and removing non-tax penalties.
Additionally, MLB wants to expand the postseason from 10 teams to 14, with the union offering 12.
MLB has offered to eliminate draft pick compensation for lost players through free agency, which has been on the job contract since 1976; expand the designated hitter to the National League; and instituting an NBA-style lottery draft to address rebuilding, though parties differ on how many teams the lottery would include.
A long gap between conversations is not unusual for the parties when fighting.
After a strike began on August 12, 1994, the parties met on August 24 and 25 and then from September 7 to 9. Commissioner Bud Selig canceled the World Series on September 14, and the parties did not resume negotiations until November 10.
After another round, the talks broke off on December 22 until the February 1-7 and February 27-March 4 sessions. The strike ended after federal district judge Sonia Sotomayor, now a Supreme Court judge, issued a court order on March 31 that restored the expired contract rules.
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