Major League Baseball took a swing by presenting a new proposal on Saturday but it struck out with the MLB Players Association, which was not impressed and did not view the negotiations as progress, according to published reports.
The lack of movement makes it apparent that spring training — scheduled to start on Thursday — will be delayed. But perhaps worse is the start of the season could eventually be pushed back if the lockout continues.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday that roughly four weeks of spring training were needed prior to starting the season. The belief is that an agreement would need to be finalized by Feb. 28 in order to get players to spring training over the following few days and to start the season as scheduled on March 31.
Saturday’s meeting was only the fifth time the two sides have met since owners imposed the lockout at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 2.
According to reports, MLB’s latest proposal touched on both economic and non-economic issues. The players felt issues they previously have expressed concern about weren’t adequately addressed.
MLB reportedly offered to raise the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $5 million to $15 million. The players are still looking for $100 million.
An MLB proposal to raise the luxury tax placed on teams by $2 million over the final three seasons over a potential five-year agreement also didn’t gain traction with the union.
Spring training games are currently scheduled to begin on Feb. 26. If no agreement is reached by the end of next week, MLB is expected to start announcing cancellations.
Another circumstance to consider in terms of getting the season going is this: there are 197 unsigned arbitration-eligible players and nearly 300 unsigned free agents, according to USA Today.
Also, foreign players would need to secure visas to travel to spring training sites in Arizona and Florida.
Manfred said MLB has agreed to a universal designated hitter and eliminating draft pick compensation.
The two sides’ previous get-together was reportedly a “heated” 90-minute meeting with neither side feeling there had been any progress.
Their longest meeting reportedly took place Jan. 24, when the sides discussed raising the minimum salary and incentivizing teams not to manipulate prospects’ service time, but they didn’t come to an agreement.
The MLBPA recently declined to enter mediation to attempt to end the MLB lockout.
This is the first baseball work stoppage since the strike that began Aug. 12, 1994, led to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and didn’t resolve until April 2, 1995. Since then, the players and owners had reached five collective bargaining agreements without any shutdowns.
–Field Level Media