Baseball labor talks break off shortly after latest management proposal

Rob Manfred’s optimism about MLB’s newest proposal — and an uninterrupted start to spring training — unraveled in less than an hour Saturday afternoon.

That was how long the much-anticipated summit between the two sides lasted in midtown Manhattan, with the Players Association walking away "underwhelmed" and "unimpressed," according to a union source.

As of Saturday night, no new negotiations had been scheduled, and there now appears to be zero chance of camps opening at some point in the coming week — with a March 31 Opening Day soon to be in jeopardy.

Two days earlier, at the conclusion of the owners’ meetings in Orlando, Manfred tried to drum up some hope about Saturday’s negotiating session — only the fifth since the commissioner’s lockout took effect on Dec. 2. But despite Manfred’s belief that MLB had moved more toward the players’ interests on a number of issues, that sentiment was not shared by the union’s leadership, which insists there still is considerable distance to bridge.

MLB showed up Saturday with a 130-page proposal, outlining every aspect of what a new collective bargaining agreement could look like, according to a source. Just as Manfred pledged, the document included changes to pay for younger players, service-time adjustments, a universal DH, the elimination of draft-pick compensation penalties attached to free agents and an expanded playoff format. MLB wants 14 teams to qualify for the postseason; the Players Association wants 12.

Regarding the minimum salary, MLB has offered two different options: a flat figure of $630,000 that is non-binding or a three-tier system that starts at $615,000 before jumping to $650,000 the following year and $725,000 the next, but teams cannot give raises above those numbers. Also, MLB has suggested a bonus pool for the best pre-arbitration players.

All told, a source said, MLB’s proposal would represent a bump of more than $200 million above the previous CBA directed toward younger players. But a large gap exists nonetheless. While MLB upped its pre-arbitration bonus pool in this proposal to $15 million from $10 million (a 50% increase as characterized by the league), the Players Association suggested $100 million in its most recent offer.

One of the biggest sticking points remains the competitive balance tax, which is viewed very differently by each side. MLB maintains that it needs the CBT to curb "runaway spending" that would severely damage the sport if left unchecked. The Players Association sees the CBT as an artificial drag on a team’s payroll — essentially a salary cap — and is adamant about keeping those penalties as soft as possible.

Along those lines, a source said MLB increased its CBT thresholds over the next five years of a potential CBA, from $214 million the first two years to $216M, $218M and $222M.

Another critical key to this framework: the penalty no longer will include the loss of draft picks at penalty levels below $234M. Last season’s CBT threshold was $210 million in the final year of the expired CBA.

There is a red flag here for the Players Association, however. MLB intends to raise the tax rate to 50% from the previous 20% for going over the first threshold, followed by 75% for the second and 100% for the third.

Manfred was not entirely truthful about that plan during Thursday’s media session in Orlando, where he said the penalties would remain status quo (a league official said Manfred "misspoke" on the issue).

The owners have been reluctant to move much on the CBT and refuse to budge on revenue sharing, which the Players Association also has targeted as an obstacle to free-market spending because of teams simply pocketing that money rather than investing to be competitive.

"The players’ insistence that we reduce revenue sharing will without question lead to less competition, not more," Manfred said Thursday. "Changing the current agreement by taking resources from clubs with relatively limited revenue will make the game less competitive. And when you think about it, it’s like asking people to take a pay cut."

It’s hard to envision MLB owners crying poverty regardless of how this next CBA comes together. But Manfred repeatedly pushed that narrative at the conclusion of last week’s meetings, even going as far as to say that owning a baseball team was a worse investment than putting money in the stock market.

That comment surely irritated the Players Association, with the Mets’ Francisco Lindor telling SNY that the union was prepared to sacrifice regular-season games if necessary to strike a fair deal with MLB.

Manfred said Thursday that teams likely will need a month of spring training to properly prepare for the regular season, which would mean a March 1 start for Opening Day to be held as scheduled. Based on Saturday’s lack of progress, the clock is ticking louder, and it’s going to require more than optimism to get baseball back on the field anytime soon.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.com,timothy.healey@newsday.comDPLennon,

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.