MLBPA To Present League With Counter Proposal

The Major League Baseball Players Association plans to make an in-person labor proposal to MLB on Monday to counter the league’s offer, which came last week and left much to be desired.

Should the new offer fail to advance negotiations that have seen the players locked out since December 2, the scheduled start to spring training—mid-February—may see delays. That of course could have a domino effect for Opening Day, which is as of now set for March 31.

The gap between the players and league remains significant. Aside from the obvious, player salaries, other priorities include anti-tanking measures and ixnaying service-time manipulations.

Before the lockout, the league asked the union to drop three areas of discussion: early free agency, salary arbitration after two years (as opposed to three), and changes to the revenue-sharing plan. The union passed on the offer on December 1, the league left the bargaining table, and the players were locked out.

A month and a half later, MLB returned an offer that included paying players with two to three years of service based on a formula, slight modifications to the draft lottery it previously had proposed, and terms that would reward teams with draft picks when top prospects who started on Opening Day rosters win awards.

That proposal was also rejected. And here we find ourselves now.