NEWSLETTER
I’ll keep tonight’s update brief, since I kinda let myself go sideways last night out of a bit of frustration. The owners finally made an economic proposal last Thursday (43 days into the lockout), and it was not something that moved the needle. The questions have been when would the players counter, and how aggressive would they be in digging in their heels on the biggest asks.
We have an answer on the first one, at least, and we will nervously await details on the latter:
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association plan to meet Monday, when the union is expected to present a counteroffer to the league’s proposal last week, sources tell ESPN.
This would be the second meeting between the sides since MLB locked out players on Dec. 2.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 20, 2022
The MLBPA plans to make a counterproposal to MLB on Monday during an in-person bargaining session in Manhattan
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) January 20, 2022
Hopefully, after the presentation, there is some actual negotiating during this lockout designed to spur negotiation.
The players’ biggest issues seem to be a significant increase in the luxury tax (and/or a reduction in penalties), earlier free agency, earlier arbitration, and a higher minimum salary. Those issues were virtually untouched in the owners’ proposal last week. So if the players stay aggressive on all of those topics, then you can bet the owners will throw up their hands on Monday, and the ugly leaks will start. Prepare yourself now. Which is not to say I can blame the players if they do stay aggressive, given everything that has preceded this moment.
More details when we have them.
