For the second day in a row, Major League Baseball and the Players Association met in Jupiter, Florida with the goal of ironing out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The hope remains to meet every day until a Feb. 28 deadline set by MLB.
In the first day of these negotiations, incremental moves were the norm. MLB slightly adjusted offers, putting the onus on the union to meet them more than halfway. However, the Players Association is not interested in providing billionaire ownership with any financial relief.
Day 2 was their turn to make adjustments. And like the league did on Day 1, the union kept their moves to a minimum, according to Evan Drellich of The Athletic:
Included in MLBPA’s offer today:
• Instead of 80 percent of players w/2-3 yrs of service being eligible for arbitration, now 75 percent.
• Dropped from 8 picks in the amateur draft lottery 7.
• Some increases in minimum salary.
There was no new proposal on CBT.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 22, 2022
On minimum salary that MLBPA proposed today: First year of the CBA remains $775,000. Each subsequent year, it goes up by $30,000 now, instead of $25,000 previously. So it’s now:
2022: 775k
2023: 805k
2024: 835k
2025: 865k
2026: 895k— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 22, 2022
The drop from 80% to 75% for a pre-arbitration bonus pool is perhaps the only move made by the Players Association that shows a willingness to meet the owners halfway. On that topic alone, it does feel like some traction is being gained.
On a lesser note, the same could be said for the draft lottery. MLB’s most recent proposal was for four teams, while MLBPA’s proposal was seven. This very much could lead to a lottery for the bottom five teams, which would be the first step in addressing tanking.
But the Players Association has continued a pattern that is not popular among the league, and that is increasing a different part of their offer each and every time they make a concession of some kind. This time around, it was minimum salaries that saw an increase, causing the league to view their proposal as a step backwards.
MLB believes players took a step backwards today, bc of proposed raises to the minimum salary. Union saw those increases as a counter-weight to drop in arb eligbility (80 to 75). PA believed its moves to be equivalent in effect to those MLB proposed a day earlier.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 22, 2022
There still remains about six days of daily negotiations to put a deal together before the soft Feb. 28 deadline. However, incremental moves like the ones we’ve seen the past two days are not going to get the job done.
It’s past time for one side to make a serious concession. Not only to bring fans closer to the return of baseball, but to show that these negotiations are about the love of the sport and fairness to the players that make it great, not just the financial strongholds of ownership.
Ohtani nominated for L.A. Sports Award
The full list of winners will be revealed during the televised production on March 8, but Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani has been nominated for Top Sports Moment in 2021. He receives this distinction for starting the All-Star Game as both a pitcher and hitter, while later winning a unanimous MVP award.