tense day in negotiations

Major League Baseball owners and Players’ Association representatives met for a sixth straight day in Jupiter, Fla., to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement. The negotiations would have been rather tense.

• Read also: Major League Baseball: Rob Manfred gets involved in negotiations

• Read also: Major League Baseball: final sprint in negotiations

Sports site The Athletic reported that the two sides met around noon and the players quickly put a new counter-offer on the table. The owners would have reacted badly to this proposal, which would have angered the sportsmen, who are trying to come to terms with the hourglass.

Indeed, commissioner Rob Manfred mentioned earlier this week that regular season games would have to be canceled if a new collective agreement was not reached by Monday. The players have not accepted to bend in the face of this threat, which would lead to a reduction in their salary for 2022.

According to the MLB Network, the athletes have moderated their demands for arbitration and good progress has been made on the luxury tax, which remains one of the most important financial issues in this debate.

Remember that the luxury tax is imposed as soon as a team exceeds a payroll of 214 million dollars. Players would like this to increase with inflation and penalties to remain the same as before. The owners would remain defensive with this aspect, still proposing a $1 million increase in the limit in 2023.

On Friday, progress had been made in the draft lottery format. We can already forget them since the owners would like to go ahead with a 14-team playoff, while the players only want 12 teams.

The day before, Manfred had also made a surprise appearance – his first of the week – at the negotiating table. He did not meet the players, but spoke with Association President Tony Clark.

Major League Baseball’s regular season is normally scheduled to begin on March 31.

SEE ALSO