Neither Major League Baseball nor its players confirmed the news, but it became clear. For the first time since 1995, training camps will not begin as scheduled in the Major Leagues.
Posted at 8:45 p.m.
The labor dispute has been going on for 76 days in major league baseball over an impasse over how to split the US$10 billion annual revenue between teams and players.
Pitchers and receivers will not report to team facilities as scheduled on Wednesday.
Major League Baseball does not plan to make an announcement regarding the postponement of the start of camps before having to cancel the first preseason games, scheduled for February 26.
If the negotiations continue until March – everything indicates that it will be the case – the inaugural matches will also have to be postponed.
The lockout was declared on December 2, when the collective agreement expired.
“I’m confident that we can reach an agreement before the scheduled start of the season,” said commissioner Rob Manfred at a press conference last Thursday.
“I believe canceling games would be disastrous for our industry. We will do everything we can to avoid it. »
It was the commissioner’s first comments since the start of the ninth work stoppage in major league history.
Negotiations for the next collective agreement are progressing very slowly.
There have only been five negotiation sessions on the main financial issues since the dispute began: a virtual meeting on January 13, as well as face-to-face meetings on January 24-25, 1er and February 12.
Reliever Andrew Miller was the only player in the in-person meetings, while Colorado Rockies’ Dick Montfort was the sole owner.
Poles apart
The players are demanding significant changes. They were particularly unhappy that the payroll of the teams was limited to 4.05 billion last year, down 4.6% compared to that of 2017, which was 4.25 billion.
The players’ union also wants to reduce eligibility for salary arbitration to two years of service, the rule that prevailed between 1974 and 1986.
The MLBPA also wants a reduction in revenue sharing, as well as additional service time for the cream of young players.
The owners said they would not decrease revenue sharing and would refuse to expand eligibility for wage arbitration.
The two camps are also far from agreeing on the minimum wage, the prize pool reserved for the best young players and the luxury tax.
“The league was under no obligation to declare a lockout,” players’ union president Tony Clark said on Dec. 2. He has not spoken to reporters since.
“The players think it’s useless and it’s an attempt at provocation. This work stoppage will not put pressure on the players or intimidate them. He will not push them to accept a collective agreement that they do not want, ”settled Clark.
Manfred countered by saying the lockout is “defensive”, recalling that the players decided to go on strike late in the 1994 season, which led to the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 year.
“By playing without a collective agreement, you risk a strike at any point during the season,” said the commissioner. In 1994, the players’ union took advantage of when we generate the most revenue, during the playoffs.
“We wanted to avoid a similar situation and try to force both sides to agree now. We believe this is the best option for fans. »
Both sides seem to believe the other won’t make any meaningful compromises until the day the inaugural games are threatened.
The commissioner pointed out last week that four weeks of training may be necessary between an agreement and the start of the season, with additional time for the ratification of the agreement and the travel of the players to the camps.