Major League Baseball is gearing up to his first work stoppage since 1994 starting at midnight on Wednesday, while talks continue with the players’ union to reach a new agreement within hours of the deadline.
The question of how to divide $ 10 billion in revenue in the Big Top is about to cause closure, as the collective bargaining agreement of the MLB with the players expires one minute before midnight.
Teams have spent more than 2 billion on free agent signings and contract extensions in the past month with little progress in negotiations and large gaps in the positions of team owners and players.
Once the deadline passes without a new deal, club owners are expected to request a lockout that would suspend the offseason, shutting down business operations and hiring players.
That would create the first shutdown since a labor dispute ended the 1994 World Series and which lasted until the beginning of the 1995 campaign.
Unresolved discussions
MLB and the MLB Players Association met again Wednesday in the Dallas suburbs, according to a post on the MLB website, which continues to seek an overhaul of the economic system, including details of free agency and revenue sharing. of the teams.
Among other things, players also want to cut from six to five years to be eligible for free agency.
Owners came up with several ideas last week, including an increase in player minimum wages, the creation of a designated hitter rule also for the National League that would end the practice of pitchers having to hit in that circuit, and the creation of an NBA-style lottery for the best selections of the “Draft” (selection of talents).
In 1994 the agreement expired on August 12 during the campaign and led to the World Series being suspended for the first time in 90 years, as the season ended prematurely.
As the season resumed in 1995, fans were furious and both attendance and television ratings plummeted.
The last agreement between Major League Baseball y MLBPA it was traded in 2016 without much trouble.
The current collective bargaining agreement covers everything from how long the season will last to what kind of travel allowances players receive for away games. It also addresses the most important economic aspects of the game, such as free agency and refereeing.
The current meetings were scheduled outside of the season precisely to allow sufficient time to resolve issues in the event of a stoppage, as players begin training in February and preseason games in March.
“We have three months to figure this out and I’m not afraid we won’t start on time or anything like that,” Phillies star Bryce Harper, the National League MVP, said two weeks ago in Philadelphia.
Notwithstanding the discussions, there has been a flood of free agent signings ahead of the deadline to secure talent for next season, provided it is played.
Texas signed a 10-year, $ 325 million deal with Corey Seager and 37-year-old star pitcher Max Scherzer signed a three-year, $ 130 million deal with the New York Mets.
“Hearing the tone in the negotiations, the lockout appears to be a very likely scenario,” Scherzer, winner of three Cy Young pitching awards, told reporters in New York on Wednesday.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx