Yesterday, MLB and the MLBPA met for an informal session to discuss the major CBA issues.
Two prominent negotiators showed up for each side.
Morgan Sword and Dan Halem represented the league, while Ian Penny and Bruce Meyer represented the players.
The meeting lasted 90 minutes and was the first session since negotiations between the two sides came to a grinding halt on Tuesday and the 5 p.m. deadline to strike a deal before games were cancelled was missed.
The season will be shortened, but at the very least, the two sides are still talking and picked up soon after the Jupiter bargaining sessions.
However, there are no future meetings set at the moment.
MLB Lockout Day No. 93: There is no scheduled negotiating session today. They could still communicate by phone, of course, but nothing planned after their 90-minute meeting Thursday.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 4, 2022
Conversations Still Possible
As noted in the tweet above, it is possible that the two sides could still communicate over the phone today and talk things over, so this doesn’t necessarily mean that the two sides have stopped talking and negotiations have come to a complete standstill.
But at the moment, there is nothing scheduled, and the two sides still remain at an impasse.
The major issues holding up the season are the CBT threshold and the amount of pre-arbitration bonus pool money, and in the owners’ most recent proposal, there was little movement in those areas.
The players unanimously rejected what the owners referred to as their “best” and “final” offer.
Players Prepare To Counter Owners’ Proposal
According to Ken Rosenthal, though there are no meetings scheduled for today, the MLBPA is reconvening and preparing to respond to the owners’ offer from Tuesday.
Rosenthal also notes that another formal meeting is expected soon.
The next meeting will play an important role in determining when the 2022 season will actually begin.
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