After denying the MLB owner's offer for mediation several weeks ago, the two sides met Monday and will meet again Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to reach a deal before regular season games are cancelled.
In a nutshell, this lockout is occurring because the old CBA (collective bargaining agreement) between the Player's Union and the MLB owners expired after last season, and due to expanded postseason proposals and new television contracts recently inked, there is a disagreement between how this new revenue should be distributed.
The players entered negotiations with a host of demands centered around getting players more money earlier in their careers. This involved lowering the arbitration age (making a player able to get out from under a rookie contract at a younger age), raising the minimum player salary, and increasing the draft lottery to the first eight picks making it harder for teams to tank (looking at you, Baltimore).
Several of the demands were extreme, such as raising the new bonus pool for pre-arbitration players to $115 million for 150 players, currently the owners feel $20 million split between 30 players is more realistic. And that's just one example of how far apart the two sides have been since December. The owners have also maintained that raising the minimum salary and lowering the arbitration age are non-negotiable.
The players see the owner's concessions towards their demands insultingly low but the owners have good reason. If a new CBA is not reached by February 28th, regular season baseball games are going to be missed and then the real pressure on both sides begins.
Unless the stare-down lasts the whole season, the mediation the union rejected will likely come back into play. The owners know the result of mediation is probably a split down the middle on many issues, hence why keeping their current concessions to a minimum helps keep the eventual hit to their bottom line as low as possible.
Unfortunately for baseball fans, any hope of a normal season is all but gone. The owners have little incentive to offer concessions, and if the union was going to cave they would have already done so. While some spring training has begun around the league with massive restrictions…that annual “first pitch” that signifies the start of summer for so many fans may have to wait til the days are a little longer this year.
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