Contingents of people from Major League Baseball and The Major League Baseball Players’ Association met together and separately for almost six hours Friday. And unlike the refrain from the previous four sessions, there is progress to report.
According to Evan Drellich of The Athletic:
A little progress! MLB, players made gains today in one area: amateur draft order/lottery. MLB made a proposal on it, players countered in same day. Not done yet, but there is optimism. Rob Manfred met with Tony Clark one on one. Manfred did not meet w/ players. They’ll meet tomm
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 25, 2022
The amateur draft and draft lottery are not among the core economic issues that will determine if there is a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in place by February 28, the date established as the last possible one for the season to start on time. In fact, Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post says that there may be enough momentum for the sides to meet earlier on Saturday (they have been starting at 1 pm).
First report is that today yielded enough progress on draft order issue that they are close to agreeing on that issue and “closing it out.” Not quite there yet, though, per person involved. And they might start talking earlier tomorrow, TBD.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) February 25, 2022
The momentum generated Friday is coming at a time when the impact of the lockout is being felt to a higher degree. As reported by Bob Nightingale of USA Today, more spring training games have been canceled.
MLB officially cancels more spring training games. Now earliest start possible is March 8, only if an agreement is reached Monday.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 26, 2022
That’s three more days of exhibition games wiped away, providing one more reason (as if one were needed) for the players and owners to act with a sense of urgency over the next 72 hours.
For the first time, Commissioner Rob Manfred joined the negotiating session today, meeting with the owners and with Union lead Tony Clark, but not with the group of players assembled in Jupiter, Florida. As Manfred has said, “you’re always one breakthrough away from a deal.” Perhaps today’s agreements (or “close to” agreements) represent that breakthrough.
The not-so-good news is that according to reports, pre-arbitration compensation, revenue sharing, and the Competitive Balance Tax were not discussed. These are classified as the core economic issues, and have to be addressed and agreed upon before there can be a new CBA that will allow baseball to resume operations.
Here’s where we are. There are three days left for MLB and the MLBPA to come to an agreement on the key issues, or at least get close enough, to allow players to report to camps, unsigned players to sign new contracts, and plans for Opening Day to go forward as originally projected.
There is a lot of work to do, but at least the feel coming from the negotiations is better, and maybe both sides realize that missing games is very bad idea. It’s estimated that players would lose over $20 million per day if games are not played, which the league has said they will not be (and not made up) if the start of the season is delayed.
Earlier today, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com tweeted some numbers that indicate that most teams actually make money, which would show that the owners (or many of them) also stand to incur financial losses if games are missed. He used the Braves’ financials to illustrate his point.
Do not believe the lie that baseball teams are not extremely profitable ventures. They are. And the financials of the Atlanta Braves, as @EricFisherSBG noted, illustrate that. A $104 million profit in 2021. A $6 million-per-game revenue stream. As a business, baseball is superb. pic.twitter.com/OXlMCdOKNn
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 25, 2022
The path forward is tough, but clear. There are three days left for MLB to save face, enter damage control mode, and start the season on time. Both MLB and the MLBPA have work to do, concessions to make, and pain to feel. The owners cannot use this opportunity to flaunt their winning streak from the last few CBA negotiations, and the players cannot try to recoup all of the ground they have lost in one agreement.
Get it done, folks. We knew that as the deadline drew closer, the negotiations would intensify. They have. Whether or not that continues, and leads to a positive outcome, remains to be seen.
We have one thing we have not had all week, a bit of optimism. Is it fool’s gold, or is this the beginning of something good? Time will tell. Three days to be more specific.
