Negotiations continue between Major League Baseball executives and the Players Association in a bid to save the start of the next season. The two parties have until Monday to agree in order to avoid a possibly shortened campaign.
While some progress was made earlier this week on the renewal of the collective agreement, Major League Baseball reiterated that an agreement must be reached in the coming days so that the regular season can kick off on March 31, as scheduled. .
The Toronto Blue Jays are normally scheduled to play their first game on this date by visiting the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. So far, the start of the preparatory calendar has already been postponed, at least until March 5.
“We regret, without an agreement in place for the collective agreement, to have to delay the start of the games of the training camp”, had ruled the major league baseball, last week.
New proposition
In the latest development, it was reported on the MLB.com website that major league baseball executives presented a new proposal Wednesday to the Players Association. The talks are taking place in Jupiter, Florida. The day before, the representatives of the athletes, including pitcher Max Scherzer, had presented their demands for the minimum wage.
The league’s offer would be a minimum of $640,000 in 2022, with an increase of $10,000 for each of the following four seasons. The Players Association had proposed $775,000 as the minimum wage for the next campaign, with annual raises of $30,000.
However, this issue surrounding the minimum wage is not the only contentious point. The number of seasons played before eligibility for wage arbitration would also be part of the discussions, as would the luxury tax aimed at punishing clubs with the largest payrolls.
