Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association reportedly made progress Monday toward an agreement for a new collective bargaining agreement that would end the owner-imposed lockout after a marathon negotiating session that lasted until the early morning hours. MLB had originally created a Monday (Feb. 28) deadline to reach an agreement before canceling regular-season games and postponing 2022 Opening Day. That self-imposed deadline, however, has been pushed back until 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN, and the sides are continuing talks throughout the day.
MLB and the MLBPA spent more than 16 hours at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, on Monday before calling it a night around 2:30 a.m. ET. As far as the progress made during the marathon sessions on Monday/Tuesday early morning, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that there’s “definite progress,” but “large gaps remain in major areas.”
MLB began Monday’s negotiations by informing the MLBPA it is willing to miss a month’s worth of games and took a more threatening tone, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic. Multiple reports, several hours later, said the two sides ended up agreeing on a 12-team expanded playoff format. However, the conversations around the competitive balance tax (a.k.a. the luxury tax) threshold, the minimum salary and a bonus pool for pre-arbitration players were ongoing.
More trivial matters such as defensive shifting restrictions were also reportedly part of discussions. In all, there were 13 separate face-to-face meetings between the two sides at the spring training facility on Monday. The bottom line is there’s a shred of hope the season begins as planned on March 31, but there’s still heavy lifting to be done on Tuesday when the parties reconvene.
CBS Sports has provided a timeline of the lockout here, but the short version is that the owners placed the padlocks on when the previous CBA expired on Dec. 1 — exactly three months ago. They were under no obligation to do so, but it was labeled as a defensive maneuver. The league then waited more than six weeks to make its first proposal. The two sides have since had a number of in-person negotiations. CBS Sports is providing live updates of Tuesday’s talks. You can follow along below.
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A bit more:
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Things are happening
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One face-to-face meeting in the books
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Face-to-face meetings begin
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Why it’s quiet in Jupiter
Yesterday’s negotiations saw tons of back-and-forth as the day went on, with representatives on both sides swapping proposals in face-to-face meetings. There hasn’t been much action yet today, and here’s why.
The 5 p.m. deadline, like yesterday’s deadline, is arbitrary and the two sides could talk it out after 5 p.m. ET if there’s a sense a deal could happen.
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Let’s check in with Kevin Pillar
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What 12-team format might’ve looked like in 2021
If we apply the format from below to the 2021 season, the playoffs would’ve looked like this (assuming records matter more than winning division)…
American League
1. Rays – Bye
2. Astros – Bye
3. White Sox vs. 6. Blue Jays (Best-of-3)
4. Red Sox vs. 5. Yankees (Best-of-3)
National League
1. Giants – Bye
2. Dodgers – Bye
3. Brewers vs. 6. Reds (Best-of-3)
4. Braves vs. 5. Cardinals (Best-of-3)
The Blue Jays (91 wins) and Reds (83 wins) are the new teams in this format, with the Mariners (90 wins) and Phillies (82 wins) next in line if the playoffs went to 14 teams.
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Possible details on expanded playoffs
If it’s a 12-team field, which is what the players are reportedly offering up (MLB would likely prefer a 14-teamer), it might go like this:
Byes are important in that they provide incentives for actually trying during the regular season over and above the level required to qualify for the postseason.
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The ‘super two’ question
For the past few CBAs, players have been eligible for salary arbitration only after they accrue three years of MLB service time. A small subset of players known as “super twos” are eligible for arbitration after two years. During the most recent CBA, 22 percent of players with between two and three years of MLB service time were eligible for that extra year of arbitration, and the union has sought to increase that percentage during these negotiations. It would seem to be a key plank for them given that pre-arb players are so grossly underpaid, and because of that they’re taking up a higher and higher portion of roster spots. MLB, however, has been resistant to any changes to the process (even though players were eligible for arbitration after just two years during the early years of its existence). The possibility that the super two pool won’t be meaningfully expanded going forward could be a possible source of fracture within the union side:
What becomes of super two in the next CBA is one of the more compelling subplots going on right now.
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Still ‘far apart’ on $
The “core economic issues” have always been the most important part of negotiations, and despite some progress Monday, the MLBPA says the sides are still “far apart” on where they’d like the allotment of a pre-arb bonus pool, the CBT thresholds and more, per Travis Sawchik of The Score.
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Maybe we’re not as close to a deal as we think?
Here’s another possible indicator that the two sides may not be quite as close to agreeing to a new CBA as recent momentum might suggest:
Also see the Travis Sawchik tweet just below.
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Here’s why owners badly want expanded playoffs
Not surprisingly, it’s a lucrative proposition:
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Here’s one other point of leverage for players
The tendency of small-market teams to pocket revenue sharing dollars instead of reinvesting them in the product (as they’re supposed to) remains a huge problem in MLB. However, given the difficulty of proving such things and the uncertainty of how an arbitrator would rule, the players are wise to treat those pending grievances as a trade chit during these negotiations.
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Arrivals in Jupiter
Representatives from the MLBPA and league are convening once more at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida shortly before 10 a.m. ET.
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Tuesday topics
Evan Drellich of The Athletic highlights some of the topics that could be discussed on Tuesday. The sides have plenty of issues to work through in addition to figuring out CBT, minimum salary and other economic issues.
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Good.. uh.. later in the morning
Hello again, baseball fans. The MLBPA and league representatives will be back at it in Jupiter, Florida later today in an effort to strike a deal after a 16-hour marathon bargaining session on Monday. Monday was the league’s original self-imposed deadline to get a deal without impacting the regular-season schedule, but the sides agreed to meet again Tuesday. The deadline for today is 5 p.m. ET, but there’s no doubt things could go later than that in an effort to iron out details.
MLB, which did not make a proposal for six weeks after locking players out, showed real urgency in negotiations for the first time Monday. MLB and the MLBPA reportedly agreed to certain items like a 12-team expanded postseason on Monday night. However, the sides remain apart on issues like the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT), minimum salary and the size of a bonus pool for top pre-arbitration eligible players, per Jon Heyman.
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Thanks to everyone who stuck around throughout the night/morning for my updates. A quick summary of the most important details is now refreshed up above and we’ll get back after this tomorrow, hopefully with news of a deal being finalized.
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