Little Progress in MLB-MLBPA Lockout Meeting
They met for five hours, and the consensus is little progress has been made between Major League Baseball and the Players Union.
Both sides remain far apart on core economic issues as the self-imposed lockout continues and pressure mounts to get a deal done before the end of February in order to save the March 31 Opening Day.
In the meeting that took place between key representatives of both parties, Major League Baseball made some concessions, although nothing is truly finalized.
Sources say that the tone of the MLB labor talks yesterday was much improved, more about problem-solving than stance restatements.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 22, 2022
For starters, the league increased its commitment in a pre-arbitration pool to $20 million — an increase of $5 million since its last offer — while adding another team to the lottery in its new NBA-style draft proposal.
MLB also withdrew its request of the union to control — and potentially reduce — the number of minor league playing jobs. According to reports, the league could try to do it unilaterally going forward certainly by 2024.
Finally, MLB pulled its offer limiting the number of times a player can be optioned to five. The players wanted that option reduced to four trips between Triple-A and the Majors due to quality of life issues.
Bigger issues like the competitive balance tax, minimum salaries and revenue sharing, weren’t addressed.
In attendance were Mets’ Max Scherzer, Francisco Lindor and Branden Nimmo, as well as Player Association President Tony Clark; Commissioner Rob Manfred was not in attendance at the meeting.
