Meridian Drafting
Major League Baseball presented a new offer to the Players Union on Saturday in a meeting that lasted less than an hour, according to ESPN’s Joon Lee. He further explained that the MLBPA was “unimpressed” by the meeting. Among the MLB proposals are: minimum salary, pre-arbitration bonus, service time manipulation, roster continuity and pre-draft physical.
The meeting between MLB and the MLBPA is over. The meeting lasted less than an hour.
As expected, there’s no deal
– Joon Lee (@joonlee) February 12, 2022
The MLBPA came out of the meeting with MLB unimpressed by the offer from the league and there’s very little progress made between the two sides in negotiations
– Joon Lee (@joonlee) February 12, 2022
The minimum wage
MLB offered a $725,000 raise for players ages 0-3. However, it is still less than the Union’s asking for a minimum wage of $775,000. MLB had previously offered salaries of $615,000, $650,000 and $700,000.
Pre-Arbitration Bonus
The Union asked for a bonus of 100 million dollars, initially. The MLB increased this Saturday from its offer of 10 million to 15 million dollars. Additionally, the league offers a six-person split to allocate bonuses using a mutually agreed-upon WAR stat. The top 30 players in WAR will be chosen for the bonus.
Also read: MLB and owners begin to give in to start the season on time
Service time manipulation
The MLB offers two draft picks (amateur and international) for the player if he is among the first Cy Young, Rookie of the Year or MVP. The Union does not agree with the international draft.
Also read: MLB approves universal designated hitter rule for the 2022 season
Rotation in the roster
Major League Baseball is proposing a new rule: limit the total number of minor league assignments for a player to five in a single season.
A pre-draft physical
Players will be able to submit a physical prior to the draft and the team that selects it must pay the player at least 75% of the value. As was the case with Kumar Rocker with the New York Mets last season who were unable to sign him due to health issues. The team cannot release the player because of the post-draft physical.
The MLBPA is arguing that how the baseball’s economy operates fundamentally doesn’t work while MLB is trying to address those concerns by saying that adding an expanded playoffs and a universal DH creates more job ms and leads to more money for players
The gap is enormous
– Joon Lee (@joonlee) February 12, 2022
