JUPITER, Florida.- For the fourth day in a row, baseball team owners and the Players Association will hold another important meeting this Thursday seeking to end the work stoppage.
The owners presented new requests regarding minimum wages, Major League Baseball responded with a new proposal in order to advance talks on a new collective bargaining agreement.
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The league proposed a minimum salary of $640,000 for 2022, which would increase by $10,000 in each of the next four seasons. The $69,000 increase from the current minimum would more than double the $27,000 increase in the last collective bargaining agreement, an increase of 12% compared to 5% in the last agreement.
The increase would also represent a larger increase than the $63,000 increase players saw in minimum salary over the entire five-year span of the last collective bargaining agreement from 2016-21.
On Tuesday, the MLBPA proposed a minimum of $775,000 in 2022, with increases of $30,000 in each of the next four seasons — more than its previous proposal.
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MLB reiterated its deadline of February 28 for an agreement to be reached and the regular season can start on March 31 as scheduled. The league has communicated the deadline to the union as Feb. 12, and while some have questioned whether Monday really represents a firm deadline, a league spokesman made it clear that this is how MLB is approaching it.
“A deadline is a deadline,” the spokesman said. “After February 28, games will be cancelled. Lost games are lost games and no salaries will be paid for those games.”
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Commissioner Rob Manfred said during owners meetings two weeks ago that based on injury data and the league’s experience during the 2020 season, which was shortened by the pandemic, spring training should be four weeks.
If the season does not start on March 31, a league spokesman said the canceled games will not be rescheduled, as the constant presence of interleague play would make it impossible to reschedule as doubleheaders.”
With MLB information
