MLB gives the players union a Tuesday night deadline to accept a new deal as talks gain urgency
Major League Baseball gave the players union a Tuesday night deadline to accept one of their options in a new proposal that would reinstate the 162-game season, with full pay, after negotiations Monday in New York that included several rounds of Zoom calls.
There was no formal written offer, but MLB provided several hypotheticals that would give the union a choice of options in exchange for other tradeoffs.
If no deal is reached by Tuesday night, or at least by early Wednesday afternoon, MLB officials said another week of regular-season games would be cancelled with players forfeiting pay.
Neither side would publicly comment on their meeting, but the talks appear to resemble the urgency of a week ago when the two sides met for 16½ hours in Jupiter, Florida. They made progress during their nine days of talks, but were unable to reach a deal before leaving Florida.
The most significant movement in Monday’s talks was MLB increasing its luxury tax threshold from $220 million to $228 million this year, rising to $238 million by the end of the collective bargaining agreement, which was first reported by The Athletic. The union’s last proposal was seeking $238 million in 2022 and rising to $263 million.
The renewed talks come in the aftermath of Sunday’s negotiations when MLB declared talks were at a stalemate.
“Simply put, we are deadlocked,’’ MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said Sunday. “We will try to figure out how to respond but nothing in this proposal makes it easy.”
MLB had a conference call with its 30 owners Monday morning and agreed to increase the luxury tax, which had been the primary obstacle in negotiations, receiving approval for ratification at the $228 million level. MLB also relented on seeking a 14-team postseason pool, agreeing to expand to 12 teams, which the union has insisted on throughout the talks.
The other two primary differences in core economic issues are the pre-arbitration pool and minimum salary.
MLB previously offered $30 million in its pre-arbitration pool while the union was seeking $80 million with $5 million increases each year. MLB had offered to raise the minimum salary from $570,500 to $700,000, with $10,000 increases each year. The union was seeking a $725,000 minimum in 2022, $745,000 in 2023, $765,000 in 2024 and $765,000 plus the consumer price index in 2025 and 2026.
If the two sides don’t reach an agreement by Tuesday evening, the deadline likely would be extended by a day if significant progress is made during their talks.
Follow Bob Nightengale on Twitter @Bnightengale.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB lockout: Owners give players a Tuesday night deadline on proposal
