Another round of bargaining occurred on Tuesday, but MLB and the Players Association made no progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Unlike the last time the two sides met, which was last week, both parties came out extremely disappointed, a very bad sign for the future of the 2022 season.
In fact, at this point, almost every analyst agrees on the fact that spring training starting on time is now highly unlikely.
Little Progress Was Made
Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that “little progress was made” and that “the on-time opening of spring training at this point is in grave danger and, frankly, would take a miraculous deal coming together to rescue. A delay feels inevitable.”
The meeting between the Major League Baseball Players Association and MLB is over. Little progress was made. The on-time opening of spring training at this point is in grave danger and, frankly, would take a miraculous deal coming together to rescue. A delay feels inevitable.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 1, 2022
Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeted that “without a settlement in next week opening those camps on time pretty much vanishes”.
Training camps are scheduled to receive pitchers and catcher in mid-February, which is less than two weeks from now.
With both sides being so far apart in negotiations, it really seems like a given that spring training won’t be starting on time.
It’s safe to say, too, that regular season games are now in jeopardy.
One of the primary points of discussions is how to compensate players in their first three years of service time.
2/Without a settlement in next week opening those camps on time pretty much vanishes (and it doesn't look good right now), then next important date is exhibition games sked to start 2/26. Told PA clearly wants to see more money allocated for 0-3 service time class that comprises
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) February 1, 2022
The union, per Sherman, wants more money allocated to players who fall into this group, right before arbitration.
There was talk about a pool of money available to compensate young stars that met specific WAR outputs or rankings.
However, that is also a stumbling block towards a deal: last week, MLB offered $10 million to the pool, and players asked for $105 million, an enormous difference.
After today’s meeting, the league didn’t move from its $10 million proposal, while the players only compromised to $100 million.
Negotiations, to be honest, are becoming hard to stomach, especially for fans.
They are the biggest losers, because they have no baseball, virtually no content on the league’s official website and social media outlets, and little hope for a quick resolution to this conflict.
The Sides Didn’t Even Discuss The Most Sensible Topics
The worst part of today’s meeting was that, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the sides didn’t really focus on one of the primary issues at hand: minimum salary for major leaguers.
Union didn’t move much since It doesn’t love MLB’s $10M offer. So both sides dislike the other’s bonus pool proposal. And they didn’t get to other big issues today, including the CBT or minimums for 0-3 players (MLB is at 615K/650K/700K, union 775/775 then arbitration at 2 yrs, https://t.co/XFr21UDMla
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 1, 2022
“They didn’t get to other big issues today, including the CBT or minimums for 0-3 players (MLB is at 615K/650K/700K, union 775/775 then arbitration at 2 yrs,” Heyman wrote.
We are now entering the third month of the lockout, and a solution isn’t close.
Opening Day would be 59 days away, but the hopes of starting the 2022 season by then are pretty much dead by now.
Much like the 2020 campaign that also included some ugly negotiations in the middle of a pandemic, players fear the unknown.
“I had a couple setbacks to getting ready for the season, so it’s just tough gauging whether I need to push it and get ready or take my time,” free-agent reliever Steve Cishek told ESPN.
“The unknown, like the COVID season, is the hard part.”
NEXT: 3 MLB Teams In Danger Of Losing Fans Due To The Lockout