Owners, offers MLBPA exchanges with minor changes; The luxury tax remains unresolved during the busy week

On Tuesday, MLB owners, representatives from the MLB Players Association and the league met again in Jupiter, Florida in an attempt to end the owner’s forced closure that disrupted Major League Baseball on December 2. The hearing was the second consecutive day of intense negotiations, in contrast to what was revealed soon after the closure began when the owners took 43 days to submit a proposal for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The MLB said February 28 is the latest they can reach a deal for a new CBA deal without delaying the opening day (currently scheduled for March 31), although the MLBPA may disagree. Trading sessions are scheduled every day this week.

Monday’s meeting was the longest closed to date. The two sides reportedly met for nearly five hours, although much of that time was spent in separate rooms drafting proposals, which is common during bargaining sessions. The length of their meeting is not as important as it was said during the meeting. Ultimately, MLB only offered small changes to its latest proposal.

On Tuesday it was the players’ turn to propose a new framework for the Capacity Building Agreement:

Hana Keser at Yahoo! That players still propose a minimum wage for the first year of $ 775,000 but now with an increase of $ 30,000 in the second and third years.

Furthermore, Keser et al. reported that the MLB proposed a second time to involve a federal mediator to advance discussions and that the players refused a second time based on their preference to continue direct negotiations with the league:

Tuesday’s string of player submissions came in response to what the owners unveiled on Monday. Here is a summary of what the owners would offer to start the week:

• Raise total player prizes before arbitration to $ 20 million. MLB previously offered $ 15 million to its top 30 players. The MLBPA is looking for a $ 115 million bounty to divide it among the top 150 players.
• Lottery for the first four selections. MLB previously only offered a lottery for the top three picks. The association wants the top eight choices to be determined by the lottery.
• No changes to the previous luxury tax proposal. MLB offers a small tax increase with much tougher penalties. MLBPA is looking to raise the threshold from $ 210 million to $ 245 million. Read more here.
• They canceled their request to check the total number of minor league teams, In addition to their offer to limit options to five times per season, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The two sides remain distant on what have become known as the “fundamental economic issues”. These key economic issues include minimum wage, competitive balance tax (CBT, also known as luxury payroll tax), Structure of the wage arbitrationAnd the The amount of total rewards for players before judgingAnd the profit sharing. Very few negotiations have been conducted on CBT, which means that it could ultimately be the last hurdle. Owners have been asking lately when it comes to CBT modifications They suggest trying to put it as a real salary cap.

According to all indications from the MLB, the 2022 season will not resume – nor will spring training begin – until a new collective bargaining agreement is in place, at least on a conditional basis. MLB can lift the block at any timeallowing baseball to resume under the terms of the old collective agreement, but the League has shown no willingness to do so.

Ivan Drillic di AthleticThe two sides will meet again on Wednesday, as planned.