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Major League Baseball Gears Up For Another Labor Dispute | You have seen?

The collective agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, December 1.

Everything suggests that a lockout will be declared and, as in any labor dispute, it is impossible to predict when and how the confrontation will end.

The owners especially want to review the terms of the payroll tax, arbitration and player autonomy.

The players want to improve the salary conditions of the youngsters, which are currently controlled by the teams until their seventh season.

The owners’ most recent proposal links the autonomy of players to their age rather than their seniority. That would have the result of attaching the young players to their original team for a very long time.

For example, a player like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who signed his first contract at 16 and reached the major team at age 19, would remain tied to the Toronto Blue Jays for 14 years before he could offer his services in the free agent market.

Should we add that it does not suit the players?

The current payroll tax system has served the richest teams well by accentuating the disparities with the less well-off teams.

In 2021, the New York Yankees spent around $ 206 million on their 40-man roster, roughly the same amount they spent in 2005 on a 25-man roster. During that time, the team’s value grew exponentially, from $ 850 million to $ 5.1 billion.

The tax of luxury applies to those with a payroll over $ 210 million. The owners would like to apply it from 180 million and would be ready to impose a floor of 100 million.

In addition to these big money matters, there will be a few small baseball issues at stake, such as the use of the designated hitter, the seven-inning doubles rolls and other adjustments put in place during the pandemic.

No doubt it will be easier to agree on these details than on the big money issues.

History of labor disputes in MLB

1972, strike (86 games canceled)

A first strike of the players. The players’ pension plan was the main issue. The owners gave in after 13 days when they realized it would cost less to keep up with player demand than to lose all their income for the season.

We did not resume the lost matches, so that all the teams did not play the same number of matches. The Detroit Tigers won the American East Division championship with 86 wins and 70 losses. The Boston Red Sox finished 2nd with 85 wins against 70 losses.

Red Sox fans would have liked their team to play one more game …


1973, lock-out (0 match annulé)

The owners have declared a lockout before training camps. The arbitration process was at the heart of the dispute. The conflict was settled with the signing of a three-year collective agreement.

The season went as planned after shortened camps.


1976, lock-out (0 match annulé)

The players and their representative Marvin Miller won a case in court in December, which saw players like Andy Messersmith and Dace McNally go self-sufficient.

The owners did not like it and declared a lockout in March. Negotiations got the season started on time and an agreement was reached in July. The players then obtained the right to autonomy after six seasons, a modality that still holds 45 years later.


1980, strike (0 game canceled)

The players went on strike a week before the end of training camps. The conflict ended by postponing to the following year the main issue, that of the compensation of free agents.


1981, strike (713 games canceled)

The owners have decided to unilaterally settle the issue of compensation for the loss of free agents. Thus, the team which signed a contract with a free agent had to send a player of its formation and a draft pick to the team which had lost this player.

The players did not agree to the decision being made unilaterally and went on strike that began on June 12 and ended on July 31.

The season was split into two and the Montreal Expos won the second segment, which saw them make the playoffs, where they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, and advance to the only championship series of their season. story. The Montrealers, however, lost this National League final against the Los Angeles Dodgers.


1985, strike (0 game canceled)

This conflict only lasted two days. The main issues revolved around the pension plan and arbitration.

While the players appeared to be winning on the arbitration, the owners retaliated by applying a system of collusion over the following seasons. The teams agreed not to offer free agent contracts, a strategy the players successfully challenged in court.


1990, lock-out (0 match annulé)

Another work stoppage whose issues were related to autonomy and arbitration. There was also talk of income sharing and the minimum wage finally crossed $ 100,000 a year.

The start of the season has been postponed for a week, but we have played a full schedule of 162 games.


1994-1995, strike (938 games, playoffs and World Series canceled)

The strike of all strikes. The one that caused the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in history and that marked the beginning of the end for the Montreal Expos.

The owners tried unsuccessfully to impose a salary cap.

After the cancellation of the 1994 season, major league baseball teams attempted to play the 1995 season with replacement players, a project that encountered legal obstacles, notably in Maryland for the Orioles, and in Ontario, where anti-scab law prevented the Blue Jays from playing at home.

The conflict ended on April 2, on the eve of the start of the new season with the replacement players.

The Expos were certainly the team most affected by the conflict. Felipe Alou’s team was in first place when the strike started.

At the end of the conflict, in less than a week, the team parted with its four most senior employees. Marquis Grissom, Ken Hill, John Wetteland were traded and Larry Walker signed a free agent contract with the Colorado Rockies.

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