Major League Baseball canceled the second week of the regular season on Wednesday after talks with the MLB Players Association failed to produce a new collective-bargaining agreement.
The international draft, a long part of negotiations but not a central issue, scuttled talks Wednesday afternoon. The league had proposed tying an international draft to the removal of direct draft-pick compensation in order to cover amateur players from Latin America and Asia.
The players rejected the league's proposals to address it and sent a counteroffer. Another week of games was canceled by the league.
The consequences could be huge. The league had tied a deal this week to play a 162-game schedule with full pay and full service time for players. Expansion of the playoffs will be removed from the proposal if the league refuses to agree to full pay and service time. With the sides already unable to agree on core economic issues, the removal of a vital gain for the league and an additional item to bargain for the union would add even more difficulty to the already-terse discussions.
Sources said that the situation worsened on the 98th day of the MLB Lockout.
The talks on the international draft started again Wednesday morning. Financial gaps had been bridged enough to bring a deal within range, but players were not willing to participate in the international draft. A large contingent of the rank-and-file from Latin America oppose it, and player leadership bristled at what it felt was the late introduction of it as a key issue to the league.
Sources said that MLB presented three options to the players and told them that they would not negotiate on other issues unless the union chose one of the options.
If an international draft is not accepted by the union by Nov. 15, 2022, the collective-bargaining agreement should be reopened.
The international draft should be taken out of the deal.
In exchange for the removal of direct draft-pick compensation, the international draft will be implemented in 2024.
The union asked for the removal of direct draft-pick compensation in 2022, while the parties study the draft, sources said. The current international system would remain and draft-pick compensation would return after the 2022-23 offseason if the players reject it.
The failure to reach a deal Wednesday could lead to severe consequences if the parties don't re-engage and strike a deal soon. After three years of major league service and six years of free agency, service-time considerations are important for players to reach salary arbitration. If they spend 172 days on a major league roster, they will get a full year of service. If more than two weeks of the season are canceled, service time will become part of any further negotiations.
Had the sides agreed to a deal Wednesday, the second-longest work strike in the game&s history would have ended and some semblance of normal would have returned after months of negotiations. Baseball is in its most difficult position yet, with new obstacles to navigate as the game attempts to find its footing among an increasingly displeased fan base.
Baseball's core economics had been front and center in labor talks prior to the league tying the international draft to direct draft-pick compensation on Tuesday. The minimum salary for players with less than three years of major league service and a bonus pool worth tens of millions of dollars will be distributed among those younger players who have yet to reach arbitration.
The league preferred a 14-team version of the playoffs, but both sides were willing to accept a 12-team version. As part of its package offer, the union has been open to player uniforms with advertising for the first time, with patches on jerseys and decals on batting helmets.
Other elements of a potential deal have been included.
There is a 45 day window for MLB to implement rules changes, including a pitch clock, ban on defensive shifts and larger bases.
The designated hitter is being adopted by the National League.
The six-team draft lottery was implemented to discourage tanking.
There are draft-pick inducements to discourage service-time manipulation.
The number of times a player can be optioned to the minor league is limited.
The international draft, which MLB has sought for more than a decade, would begin in 2024. Each team in the league would have access to top amateur talent once every four years, because the teams would be placed inpods of seven or eight. The draft system would guarantee more money for international talent than the current system in which free agents can sign with any team, according to the league.
Currently, players are eligible to join organizations at 16 years old, though teams often enter into multimillion-dollar agreements with children as young as 12 and 13. MLB believes a draft will curb the corruption that is rife in the international market, with early signings, financial kickbacks and trainers giving performance-enhancing drugs to teenage boys among the foremost issues.
The talks on a new basic agreement began last year and moved slowly before the previous version expired. The league and union made little progress in the months before the players were locked out. The possibility of losing regular-season games grew stronger as a result of the 43-day gap in negotiations and the scheduled opening of spring training in February.
After a 2016 negotiation that led to drastic economic consequences, players were intent on making significant financial gains beyond 2022. Over the past four seasons, player salaries have gone down despite the fact that revenues have gone up. Over the past two basic agreements, the rise in franchise values has almost quadrupled.
The league is content with the current economic system and has pushed back on the gains players hoped to make. The uncapped system allows teams to spend less on older players to balance out the added costs of younger players.
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