(New York) Negotiators representing locked-out players presented their latest counter-offer to Major League Baseball executives on Wednesday after commissioner Rob Manfred missed a deadline he had set to come to an agreement that would ensure a full season of 162 games.
Posted at 3:09 p.m.
The two sides talked for 4.5 hours, until 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, before breaking off the talks to allow the union to hold a conference call with its executive board in the morning.
Then Bruce Meyer, chief union negotiator, and Ian Penny, general counsel, negotiated the three blocks in a wintry mix of rain and snow to deliver the proposal to the Major League Baseball office, before returning to their headquarters.
In this 98and day of the lockout, Major League Baseball officials said no additional games have been postponed and talks will continue.
They also presented proposals to players on Tuesday on the key financial elements of the luxury tax, the amount of a new bonus pool for players eligible for pre-arbitration and minimum wages.
Major League Baseball also insisted on its long-standing goal of establishing an international amateur draft, a concept opposed by the Players’ Association and which remains an obstacle to reaching an agreement.
Tuesday’s schedule was the third set by Major League Baseball in the past two weeks.
Manfred had initially identified the date as February 28 to preserve the opening matches being held on March 31. After 16.5 hours of negotiations that began Feb. 28 in Jupiter, Fla., ended at 2:30 a.m. the next morning and led to progress, Manfred extended that deadline to 5 p.m. the following day.
The talks broke down and Manfred announced that the first two sets of matches for each team had been called off. Negotiators returned to New York and resumed talks the following Sunday.
Although there appears to be no chance that Opening Day will take place on the day originally scheduled, Major League Baseball advised the union that Tuesday was the last possible day to strike a deal that would allow the holding of a modified calendar of 162 games, with full salary for the players and the recognition of years of seniority with a view to autonomy.