Report: MLB doubts sides will reach deal by deadline
Multiple league officials believe Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association will not strike an agreement by Feb. 28, MLB's self-imposed deadline to avoid canceling regular-season games, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
The two sides exchanged comprehensive packages Saturday, but the proceedings left both unhappy.
Lots of changes on the specifics today but in total: both sides proposed comprehensive packages. MLB’s reaction to the union’s proposal—incld moves on CBT, super 2, & rev sharing—was negative, players were outraged. MLB’s counter left players considering walking away tonight.
— Hannah Keyser (@HannahRKeyser) February 26, 2022
The players were infuriated to the point they considered walking away from the bargaining table, a person familiar with their plans told The Washington Post's Chelsea Janes.
"(It's) not good," pitcher Max Scherzer, one of the players heavily involved in negotiations, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold about the sessions while signing autographs for fans. "They don't like what we have to say."
The MLBPA dropped its request to expand arbitration eligibility from 75% of players with two-to-three years of service time to 35%, according to The Athletic's Evan Drellich.
Neither side offered any change to the minimum salary structure or the pre-arbitration bonus pool, according to Drellich.
The union's proposal also included coming down $2 million on the competitive-balance tax thresholds each year from 2023 to 2025, Janes added. The league countered with an offer to raise the threshold only in the second year of the agreement from $214 million to $215 million.
MLB also offered to lower luxury tax penalties to 45% for the first threshold, 62% for the second, and 95% for the third, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers.
The league reiterated wanting the window of notice to unilaterally impose on-field changes shortened from the current one year to 45 days, which the players didn't receive well, Passan reports.
The negative tone of Saturday's negotiations also represented a backtrack from the optimism on Friday that MLB and the MLBPA were close to an agreement on a draft lottery.
And just when it looked like they were on the verge of agreeing on 4-team draft lottery, that blew up too when MLB insisted on 14-team playoff pool instead of union’s proposal of 12
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 26, 2022
Despite the setback, the league and union will again meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET for a seventh straight day of bargaining, according to Passan.
No meeting was immediately scheduled for tomorrow between MLB and MLBPA. Players plan to discuss. But speculatively: it would be difficult for either side to end these talks prior to Monday, which is the day of MLB’s imposed deadline for the regular season to start on time.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 26, 2022
MLB and its players have been locked out since the previous collective bargaining agreement expired on Dec. 1.