On Tuesday, after a 97-day lockout, Major League Baseball and its players’ union met to try to salvage a 162-game season with full pay and service time by the deadline. Among the main issues to be discussed were the luxury tax, the amount of a new bonus fund for players who are not yet in a position to go to salary arbitration, and minimum wages. Although MLB increased its offer, it also submitted another package of proposals.
Facing a new deadline that was set by commissioner Rob Manfred on March 1 and that expired on Tuesday to reach an agreement that would preserve a 162-game season, the league and its players met in the morning and extended their conversations. via telephone.
In the evening, Evan Drellich, a senior writer at The Athletic, broke down the league’s new proposals: that luxury tax thresholds start at $230 million, even though the union asked for $238 million on Monday; the amount of a new bonus fund for pre-arbitration players, the Players Association requested 80 million for this year and the MLB proposed 40 million; and Major League Baseball is proposing a $700,000 minimum salary for 2022 even though players have requested $725,000.
Additionally, the league wants to add a new level to the luxury tax and “is linking the elimination of the qualified offer with the institution of an international draft,” Drellich explained via Twitter.
The baseball specialist indicated that some other details of the MLB proposal is that “players can opt for a maximum of five times before being exposed to exemptions; small markets can pick in the draw lottery for two consecutive years before moving to the 10th pick and large markets can pick only one year in the lottery before moving to the 10th.”
Drellich breaks down that the luxury tax threshold will start at 230 million and will increase to 242 million in 2026. In turn, he increased the pre-arbitrage bonus fund to 40 million (10 million more than his previous offer), but it will not increase over time. On the other hand, the league’s proposal for the increase in the minimum wage is as follows: $700,000 in 2022, which in five years will rise to $770,000.
Russell Dorsey, Bally Sports and Stadium insider, confirmed the data and noted that Tuesday’s proposal also addressed service time, as the top two Rookie of the Year finalists in each league will be eligible for the full year of service. of service.
“As you have seen in the previous weeks, a deadline today does not mean that things will not continue tomorrow or that the Players Association will not fight back. The situation remains fluid,” Dorsey wrote.
Manfred’s ruling was that if the sides reached an agreement on Tuesday, the players could rejoin spring training on Friday and make up missed game days on bye days and doubleheaders. However, he also threatened to cancel another week of games if a new collective agreement was not produced by the deadline. MLB canceled the first two series of the regular season after the two sides failed to reach an agreement early last week.
Separately, MLB announced Tuesday that it will provide an initial $1 million fund to support the workers of those baseball stadiums affected by the lost spring training games in Florida and Arizona.