(Jupiter) Negotiations resumed with new momentum on Monday, and the owners of Major League Baseball (MLB) took a first step to get closer to the positions of the players currently locked out.
Updated yesterday at 11:10 p.m.
With perhaps a week to save opening day, union executive director Tony Clark attended the talks Monday for the first time since the MLB lockout began. He was joined by star New York Mets players Max Scherzer, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo.
The owners have improved their offer of contribution to the performance bonus envelope which would be shared between the 30 best players not eligible for salary arbitration. They say they are ready to pay 20 million rather than 5 million as previously indicated. This amount is still far from the sum of 115 million claimed by the Players Association (MLBPA) to reward the 150 best players not eligible for arbitration.
MLB is also ready to modify its proposal concerning the implementation of an amateur draft lottery. Rather than submit the top three picks to a lottery, the league agrees to include the top four picks. Players suggest putting the first eight picks into play instead.
The clubs have dropped their proposal to give each other the flexibility to reduce the number of minor league contracts in addition to limiting the number of dismissals to five per player per season. The players’ union opposes the reduction in the number of minor league contracts and wants to reduce the cap on dismissals to four.
The two sides met at least twice interspersed with a long break to allow the groups to discuss separately. The talks dragged on into the early evening, officially making it the longest meeting since the start of the lockout.
At the previous meeting, last Thursday, the exchanges lasted only 15 minutes. This time, the parties described the discussions as productive, but the union said it was disappointed with the weak concessions from the owners.
Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals, Jameson Taillon of the Yankees, Sonny Gray of the Reds, Whit Merrifield of the Royals, Taylor Rogers of the Twins and Brent Suter of the Brewers were also among the players present for the negotiation session at Roger Dean Stadium, the training site vacant spring season of the Cards and Miami Marlins. Clark and the players met Bruce Meyer, the union’s chief negotiator, in the right-field parking lot before entering the stadium.
Colorado Rockies President and CEO Dick Monfort, also chairman of the Labor Policy Committee, was on hand with San Diego Padres Vice Chairman Ron Fowler, the former chairman of the committee. Commissioner Rob Manfred was absent, and the MLB delegation was led by Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem, the clubs’ chief negotiator.
The site of the negotiations is about 5 kilometers from the home of Scherzer, among the eight players on the union’s executive subcommittee. Jason Castro of the Astros, from the sub-executive committee, also attended the meeting.
Training camps couldn’t start on time last Wednesday due to baseball’s ninth work stoppage, the first since 1995.
Monday’s session was only the seventh on crucial aspects of finance since the lockout began on December 2, and the parties have met on consecutive days only once, on January 24 and 25. MLB revealed last week that it plans to hold meetings with the union every day this week.
The lockout entered its 82and day, Monday. Major League Baseball on Friday canceled preseason games for training camp from Feb. 26 to March 4.
Players are angry that team payrolls have fallen to their lowest level since the 2015 season. They want to see new mechanisms implemented to boost competition between teams as well as spending.
On the other hand, the clubs informed the union that they would not expand eligibility for wage arbitration; that they would not reduce the level of revenue sharing; and that they would not implement a mechanism allowing players to increase their service time.
Players are calling for a mechanism that offers time-on-serve bonuses to prevent teams from allowing their best prospects to mature in the minor leagues too long in order to delay their move to free agency.
In addition, the owners announced that they would not make any other proposals regarding the salary cap and the luxury tax until the very end of the negotiations.
Until now, all discussions since the start of the lockout had taken place in New York at the offices of the MLB and the players’ association.
Baseball executives informed the union that Feb. 28 was the last possible day to reach an agreement to allow the season to open as scheduled on March 31.