USATSI_17832186 — Patrick Breen-USA TODAY NETWORK

MLB, MLBPA Fail to Reach Agreement, Lockout Extended and Further Cancellations

For the second consecutive week, the two sides failed to reach an agreement, resulting in another week of cancelled games.

Author:
Declan Harris
Mar 9, 2022 6:33 PM EST

Just like last Tuesday, MLB and the MLBPA have failed to reach an agreement. The lockout has been extended, and as a result, another week of games has been canceled.

"Because of the logistical realities of the calendar, another two series are being removed from the schedule, meaning that Opening Day is postponed until April 14," said Robert Manfred in a statement, "We worked hard to reach an agreement and offered a fair deal with significant improvements for the players and our fans."

Meetings between the two sides began early on Tuesday morning, with key negotiators from the league, Dan Halem, Morgan Sword, and Pat Houlihan arriving at 2:00 pm for the second round of negotiations.

Tuesday saw the union respond to the league's offer from Monday, which the owners felt was a fair offer, however one anonymous player felt that the offer still favored the owners' interests, according to Ken Rosenthal.

Tuesday evening, MLB submitted another deal with significant changes.

According to Drellich, luxury tax thresholds were increased to $230 million for the base threshold, then $250 million for the first surcharge, $270 for the second surcharge, then a new third surcharge at $290 million.

Added as well were $40 million to the pre-arbitration pool and a minimum salary of $700,000 to be increased at $15,000 and $20,000 increments through 2026.

Other smaller details were included as well in a further Twitter thread via Drellich.

The MLBPA requested an extension of the Tuesday deadline through Wednesday to make their counter-proposal. Around 2 pm Wednesday MLBPA officially submitted their written requests to MLB.

Following this proposal sides were still $25 million apart on the pre-arbitration pool and $8 million apart by 2026 on the CBT base threshold.

Another sticking point that arose in these bargaining sessions was the implementation of an International Amateur Draft. This system, proposed to go into effect in 2024, will do away with the old free-for-all system currently in place in countries like the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and even Australia.

The owners provided three options for the players to accept, the first being to accept the international draft with no compensation for draft picks, the second being no draft but pick compensation would continue, or the third being to sign the agreement which would include eliminating compensation and would readvise the topic of the draft later on, per Jon Heyman.

"I am saddened by this situation's continued impact on our game and all those who are a part of it, especially our loyal fans," said Manfred.