(JUPITER) Locked out players and major league baseball held a series of very intense talks on Monday in an effort to pave the way for a collective bargaining agreement on the day the league has set a deadline to save the opening of the season scheduled for March 31.
Posted yesterday at 9:25 p.m.
Commissioner Rob Manfred met twice with representatives of the Players Association (MLBPA) on Monday, one more than the total of his meetings since the start of the lockout on December 2.
“We’re working on a deal,” Manfred said around 6 p.m. after his second bargaining session of the day with the union.
Max Scherzer and Andrew Miller lead the delegation of Major League Baseball players on the final day of negotiations to end the lockout before the owners’ March 31 deadline to save the start of the regular season. , and hold a full schedule of 162 matches.
The two sides met at Roger Dean Stadium at 10 a.m., three hours earlier than usual. This is the eighth straight day of negotiations at the spring training facility for the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals.
Major League Assistant Commissioner Dan Halem and Vice President of Operations Morgan Sword met with the players’ union for about 45 minutes during the first meeting, which ended around noon.
Then, around 2:45 p.m., commissioner Rob Manfred and Halem met with player representatives.
The lockout is at its 89and day. No exact time has been set to complete this round of negotiations, suggesting they could continue late if both sides see a deal within reach.
The two camps were still far apart, but the pressure is increasing. Players would lose $20.5 million in wages for each day of the lost season, according to an Associated Press study, and the 30 teams would lose significant sums that are harder to assess.
Monday was chosen as the deadline because commissioner Rob Manfred has estimated that at least 28 days of practice are needed before the start of the season. The union didn’t say whether it agreed with that assessment, and baseball has shortened the length of training camps to as little as three weeks in the past.
The MLBPA hasn’t said whether it agrees with the deadline as training camps have been cut short in the past.
On Monday, however, the emotions began to run as Philadelphia Phillies star player Bryce Harper posted a photo to his Instagram account with the message, “Yomiuri Giants are you interested? I have free time. »
SCREENSHOT OF BRYCE HARPER’S INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
New York Yankees pitcher Jameson Taillon, who took part in the negotiations last week, wrote on Twitter: “Players are used to their ‘threats’. The actions of the owners clearly show from the beginning that they have set a number of games according to which they make a profit. They don’t want us to play. It is sad to know that these are the people who manage and determine the future of our wonderful sport”.
Baseball’s ninth labor dispute, the first since 1995, began Dec. 2. Pre-season preseason games were due to start on Saturday and have already been canceled until March 7.
Players and owners did not meet directly on Sunday.
Halem spoke on the phone with Players’ Association-appointed negotiator Bruce Meyer on Sunday morning, and asked him for a one-on-one meeting rather than a group meeting.
It kicked off a series of four small meetings serving the union and the major leagues to understand the compromises that must be made on both sides in order to reach common ground. Negotiations began in the spring of 2021, and resulted in the first work stoppage since 1995.
Several issues are far from settled between the two parties. Among those that irritate the most are the luxury tax and its rate, the size of the bonuses granted to players before they can test the free agent market, the minimum wage, the accessibility to salary arbitration and the willingness of the players’ union to review the formula for calculating the redistribution of Major League revenue.
The Major Leagues have never been this close to having to cancel regular season games due to a labor dispute since Aug. 30, 2002. The union was scheduled to strike at 3:20 p.m. that day, but 25 p.m. consecutive negotiations and meetings culminated in an agreement at 11:45 a.m.
The talks have not been as intense so far this year, but they have intensified since they moved from New York to Florida last week.
The major leagues are offering to raise the luxury tax cap to $214 million from $210 million last season, and to raise it to $220 million by 2026. Teams also want the tax to be higher. salty, which could have the same effect as a salary cap according to the players’ union.
The players want the cap set at 245 million this season, and increased to 273 million by the time the collective agreement expires.