The Major League Baseball Players’ Association delivered a counteroffer to the league Thursday in collective bargaining agreement negotiations during a meeting that lasted a mere 15 minutes, multiple outlets reported.
The MLB lockout is into its third month as spring training is on pause. Pitchers and catchers were due to report this week with full-squad workouts scheduled for as early as this weekend.
The two chief negotiators, deputy MLB commissioner Dan Halem and the MLBPA’s Bruce Meyer, met for an additional 20 minutes after Thursday’s short session and engaged in candid talks, The Athletic reported.
MLB now is on the clock to schedule the next bargaining session.
The union put forth two new proposals that were slightly altered from previous offers, per reports.
First, the union backed off its request for all players with two-plus years of service to be eligible for salary arbitration. Instead, they asked that 80 percent of players with two-to-three years of service qualify as Super Twos – eligible for a fourth year of arbitration. The league has said it won’t budge from the current 22 percent of players that qualify for early arbitration.
Second, the union has bumped up the amount of bonus money it wants for pre-arbitration players to $115 million. The MLBPA started at $105 million before reducing their demand to $100 million. MLB hasn’t budged from its $15 million offer, up from the current $5 million.
Spring training games are currently scheduled to begin on Feb. 26. The regular season is scheduled to begin March 31.
–Field Level Media