As Major league Baseball and the Players Association continue to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement for the 2022 season, some progress has been made but the sides remain far apart on key issues.
The universal designated hitter and a draft lottery have already been agreed to, which will both bring significant changes to the sport. However, they remain far apart on the core economics, which is what is truly preventing a deal from getting done.
Spring Training has already been delayed and the threat of a regular season delay looms unless the two sides can come to an agreement by the end of the month. However, that looks less likely each day.
In the Players Association’s latest offer they dropped down from their previous request of making every second and third year player eligible for bonus pool money, according to Evan Drellich of The Athletic:
The MLBPA today is no longer proposing that all players w/at least 2 years of service time become arbitration eligible. Instead of 100 percent, the MLBPA is proposing that 80 percent of players w/2-3 years of service would be arb eligible (or, said differently, would be Super 2s)
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 17, 2022
The bonus pool was previously proposed as a way to get pre-arbitration players extra money before they are able to negotiate how much money they will make in a season, which happens after three years of service time.
The money would go to the 80% of players with the most service time among the second and third-year players, but to compensate for less than 100% of these players getting money, the union asked for an extra $15 million to be added to the pool, according to Drellich:
The players proposed that the prearbitration bonus pool now be $115 million (accounting for their proposal now having fewer players going to arbitration). Previous proposal was $100 million. Pool would now be distributed to 150 players rather than 30.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 17, 2022
It is unlikely the league will accept this offer either even though it represents another concession from the union.
With little time remaining to get a deal done before the season, the owners will need to pick up the urgency in their negotiations to avoid a delay. However, they have yet to show any indication they will despite the players already making multiple significant concessions.
Owners asked to cut Minor League roster sizes
As part of the negotiations, owners reportedly asked for the ability to cut down Minor League roster sizes in an attempt to recoup financial losses in other areas.
Teams are currently allowed to roster 180 minor leaguers but the league wants them to roster no more than 150, which would put 900 Minor League players out of a job.
However, the MLBPA sees cuts to the minor leagues as non-negotiable.