MLB and the Players Association held a marathon negotiating session at Roger Dean Stadium on Monday that included 13 face-to-face meetings and several collective bargaining agreement proposals being exchanged. Enough progress was made that the league pushed back it’s self-imposed deadline for a new deal to 2 p.m. PT on Tuesday.
Both sides made concessions as MLB agreed to increases with the starting competitive balance threshold, minimum salary and in the pre-arbitration bonus pool. The MLBPA also backed off their stance of increasing the percentage of players who would qualify for Super Two status.
While the sides have made headway in those areas, they remain far apart on several other topics. MLB is desperately pushing for an expanded postseason that includes 14 teams, while the MLBPA has stuck to a format that features only 12 teams.
As the league and union return to the negotiating table on Tuesday, they must also make up ground on draft-related issues, via The Athletic MLB Staff:
As talks unfold today, keep a few things in mind: The union made clear it felt the gap on key issues remains significant. So the deal is not done, and might not be at end of the day. And that these are are package deals: nothing is done until everything is. Other Details about MLB’s proposal/Tuesday’s talks:
• MLB still very much wants an international draft, and is proposing it. That would be a major PA give.
• MLB is willing to drop direct draft pick compensation for free agents. Also major.
• MLB is at 5 picks on amateur draft lottery.
An international draft has been talked about for years but not so much during CBA negotiations. The idea of one makes sense on paper — especially if it replaces the international signing period — as it would allow smaller market teams a better chance to acquire some of the top talent.
That MLB has proposed to remove the loss of a draft pick for teams that sign free agents who receive the qualifying offer is also big as it could encourage spending.
The implementation of an MLB Draft lottery also appears to be a given at this point. However, the league and union still need to iron out some details. MLB has requested that only the first five selections be determined by a lottery, while the union has countered at seven.
MLB submits final offer
Beyond all of these asks from MLB to the union, their “best-and-final” offer, which came just before 1:00 p.m. PT on Tuesday, involved nearly zero compromises from their most recent offers, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN:
MLB's best-and-final offer:
– No changes to CBT thresholds (220/220/220/224/230)
– A $5M increase on pre-arb bonus pool from $25M to $30M
– An increase of minimums from $675K to $700K, moving up $10K/year— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 1, 2022