Report: 'Unproductive' CBA Meeting Puts MLB's Opening Day in Jeopardy
Any hope of Major League Baseball's season beginning on time is quickly vanishing.
Thursday's bargaining session between MLB and the MLB Players Association lasted only 15 minutes, ending with league officials describing the meeting as "unproductive." According to The Athletic, the MLBPA backed off on its request that all players with at least two years of service qualify for salary arbitration, reducing its proposal to 80 percent.
Under the terms of the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, three years of service is required for salary arbitration, but 22 percent of players with at least two years of service also qualify, known as Super Two eligibility. The ask for 80 percent—even down from 100 percent—is obviously a significant ask for the union, but it falls in line with its goal of better compensation for players with less than three years of service. Throughout negotiations, MLB has fervently maintained that any change to arbitration eligibility is a non-starter.
In addition, the MLBPA proposed a pre-arbitration bonus pool of $115 million, a 15-percent increase from its previous offer. This would be a new concept—one that both sides have agreed upon—in effort to compensate younger players better. However, MLB's latest proposal offered a pool of $15 million, so the sides are drastically far apart on dollars.
The union's reason for the additional $15 million to the bonus pool is to account for its proposal having less players qualify for arbitration. The MLBPA also proposed the pool be distributed to 150 players instead of 30, which was offered previously.
After the brief bargaining session, MLB head negotiator Dan Halem and MLBPA head negotiator Bruce Meyer had a side meeting that lasted about 20 minutes. According to The Athletic's Evan Drellich, the meeting was said to be "candid."
In the previous meeting that took place five days ago, MLB told the MLBPA an agreement must be in place by Feb. 28 in order to preserve Opening Day on March 31, according to multiple reports. In addition to needing four weeks of spring training, free agents need time to sign contracts with clubs, clubs need time to settle contracts with their arbitration-eligible players, players need to travel to their respective camps and foreign players need to renew their visas.
According to the Washington Post's Chelsea Janes, MLB and the MLBPA plan to meet Friday to discuss non-core economic issues. The next bargaining session involving core issues—the ones that truly stand in the way of a new CBA—has yet to be scheduled.
Owners voted unanimously to lock out the players when the previous CBA expired at 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 1. At 78 days and counting, this lockout is the second-longest work stoppage in the history of baseball. Only the 1994-95 players strike lasted longer—a staggering 232 days.
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