MLB, union reps meet in person and there's some progress
In this Feb. 14, 2020, file photo, baseballs sit in a bucket after they were used for fielding practice during spring training baseball workouts for pitchers and catchers at Cleveland camp in Avondale, Ariz. Credit: AP/Ross D. Franklin
Play ball? Not yet.
But a thaw has appeared in baseball’s labor talks as the owners and players met in person for two hours in Manhattan on Monday and plan to meet again on Tuesday, according to multiple reports.
The sides had not met in person since Dec. 1, hours before owners imposed a lockout that imperils spring training and possibly the start of the 2022 season.
A virtual negotiating session was held on Jan. 13 in which owners offered some new proposals. The Players Association rejected most, if not all, of the proposals, but countered on Monday with new offers of its own.
According to multiple reports, the union deleted some of its most contentious asks, including a plan to allow players to become free agents earlier than the current six years of service time. The union also made changes to its previous revenue-sharing proposal, but continued to ask for players to become eligible for pricey salary arbitration earlier than they did under the expired labor pact.
Those three items are seen as the most problematic if the sides are going to come to an agreement on how to share the industry’s billions of dollars of revenue.
Most baseball fans don’t care about the details of the offers, but would like to know if a deal can be reached to allow spring training to start on time as scheduled on Feb. 16. Opening Day for all 30 teams is scheduled for March 31.
Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort, the chairman of baseball’s labor policy committee, was part of a four-man MLB delegation that arrived at the union office shortly before 1 p.m., The Associated Press reported. Monfort was accompanied by deputy commissioner Dan Halem, executive vice president Morgan Sword and senior vice president Patrick Houlihan.
Management is expected to counter on Tuesday as the negotiations have apparently gone from snail’s pace to lightning fast.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
