It was back on December 2 of last year that commissioner Rob Manfred officially announced the MLB lockout. Fast forward two months, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported Thursday that the league has asked for federal mediation in collective bargaining talks. It would have to be agreed to by the Players’ Association. However, it’s not a great sign when it comes to players returning to the field.
During the last MLB work stoppage back in 1994-95, the league also asked federal mediation. The World Series was canceled a month later with an ultimate resolution still seven months away.
As we noted last month, Spring Training is now certainly in jeopardy with opening day taking place on time looking increasingly less likely. Any time a side demands federal mediation in collective bargaining conversations, it’s a sign that things are not going too swimmingly.
As for potential mediation between MLB and the Players’ Association, the feds have no grounds to impose a settlement.
“During negotiations, a mediator uses his/her knowledge of the industry, similar negotiated settlements, the parties, and the issues to guide negotiators past potential barriers to settlement. Mediators may offer procedural or substantive suggestions and recommendations throughout the process. However, a mediator does not have authority to impose a settlement or to determine contract terms.”
Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service on CBA negotiations
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MLB, Players’ Association continue to meet
We reported on Tuesday that the two sides were back at the bargaining table. Unfortunately, it appears that the meat and bones of this work stoppage has been delayed to a further date. Rather, the two sides discussed topics that weren’t as divisive.
Among them, MLB is now open to a pre-arbitration bonus pool.” This would provide additional funds to the best young players who continue to play under contracts that at far below market value. The owners proposed a $10 million pool while the union is pushing for $105 million. That’s a pretty big difference right there.
These are among the issues on the table. Others include revenue share, player salaries and alleged “service time” manipulation on the part of Major League Baseball and its owners.
Prior to the 1994 lockout costing that year’s World Series, there had been three work stopagges in the modern history of MLB. None resulted in the cancelation of games.
- 1973 MLB lockout: No canceled games
- 1976 MLB lockout: No canceled games
- 1990 MLB lockout: No canceled games
We could now potentially be headed in that direction following Thursday’s news.