MLBPA Latest Offer Sees Movement On Lottery System, Minimum Salary, More As Lockout Continues

On Tuesday, representatives from Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association met for the second time this week, with the union for the players making a counterproposal to offers made by the league on Monday.

The sides are scheduled to meet again at 1pm ET on Wednesday at Roger Dean Stadium in Florida.

The meeting, which lasted approximately one hour, saw movement on several issues but none seen as significant enough to close the gap between the sides.

According to industry sources close to the meeting, the union moved from seeking 80% of all players with two years of service time entering salary arbitration to 75%. With the latest proposal, the MLBPA has now moved from 100% of all two-year players, a concession of 25%.

On Monday, league labor negotiators agreed to increase the amount of money going to pre-arbitration players by $5 million, moving the total to $20 million.

On Tuesday, the union looked to increase the minimum salary to $775,000 in the first year of the agreement, with $30,000 increments in each of the following four years of the five-year labor agreement. The minimum salary offer breaks down as follows:

• 2022: $775,000
• 2023: $805,000
• 2024: $835,000
• 2025: $865,000
• 2026: $895,000

Also offered was movement on a draft lottery system. The union moved down from eight to seven picks that would be affected by a system more closely aligned with the NBA. Other adjustments to the system that have been offered prior were left in place.

The value of these moves offered by the MLBPA is seen as equal in value to the movement made Monday by the league.

A critical aspect that has been missing both days, talks have yet to address the competitive balance tax or Luxury Tax. The players are seeking an increase to the threshold that clubs would be able to go to before being penalized. The league has offered to raise the amounts but only if increasing the penalties, something that the union sees as off-limits for discussion.

With the league’s lockout already canceling at least one week of Spring Training, MLB has said that if a deal isn’t reached by Monday, February 28, regular-season games will be in jeopardy.

The union for the players has said that if a deal is not reached that allows them to play a full 162 game season at full pay they will pull their offer off the table to agree to expanded playoff teams. Currently, the MLBPA has agreed to increase the total from 10 last season to 12. The league is seeking 14 teams in expanded playoffs.